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Union compiles higher ed database
Oct. 6, 2005 NYSUT higher ed leaders Ellen Schuler Mauk and Fred Floss. Data, data everywhere and not a lot to link. This problem of haphazard information seems to have been the heritage of higher education — until now. Leaders representing faculty and staff unions from city and state universities, along with the community colleges, are working with New York State United Teachers researchers to pull together stray numbers for a panoramic portrait of the higher education scene. One block of information will bolster the union's efforts at policy and advocacy for higher ed. NYSUT plans to create an electronic database to store and update that information. What is full-time enrollment compared to five years ago? How does cumulative state support for higher ed stack up against the general fund? What are the numbers of full-time faculty compared to part-time faculty, and how have they changed over time? With such disparate higher education institutions, a solid grasp of that information has been elusive. "We have a wealth of information on K-12," said John Yagielski, NYSUT researcher. That data is gleaned from the census, the state comptroller's office, budget votes, and the State Education Department. "With higher ed we don't have access to that kind of information. We have to build it into our regular operations like we've done for K-12," Yagielski said. Now in place is an advisory group with members from the Professional Staff Congress, representing CUNY professional faculty and staff; the community colleges; and United University Professions, representing SUNY academic and professional faculty. The group has developed a framework to build a database on finance, students, faculty/staff and the community. Dave Richter, a retired chief financial officer for SUNY, has been hired as a consultant. At a September meeting of the advisory group, Richter reported that consistency, accuracy and accounting treatments among the higher ed institutions are all different. Organizations have been cooperative in supplying information. The goal, he said, is to get away from generalities to specifics. That is happening. "We have the beginnings of a data system," he said. "We know what we have; we've now got to put it away. It's a pretty sizeable task." Information has revealed that community colleges within CUNY, for example, now have 62 percent part-time faculty and 38 percent full-time. Other interesting finds: SUNY's annual energy bill is a quarter of a billion dollars — it is the second largest energy user in the state, according to Richter. That amount will likely be up to $275 million this year. Tuition increases have helped to pay that bill since state support has not kept up. Laying his hand on a sheaf of papers, Yagielski said NYSUT wants to know: "What does all this mean? State support dwindles at critical times. Tuition goes up. Jobs are replaced. Those dynamics are playing themselves out." — Liza Frenette |
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