(Updated) Same Old Story: Protect the Bigwigs, Target the Workers

Update: Also see this Daily Lobo story about UNM President Schmidly's responses to questions at the town hall meeting, and the reactions of those present. Fascinating photo too.
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It's the same old story everywhere these days. The well connected and powerful are determined to protect the interests of themselves and their cohorts in the investor class, while looking to make cuts in the already meager pay and benefits afforded to those who do the real work of America. The University of New Mexico is no exception.

UNM President David Schmidly had to face a large and hostile crowd of students and faculty yesterday at a "town hall meeting" on UNM's financial problems. The attendees weren't exactly enamored of Schmidly's apparent willingness to cut funds for the actual education of students while preserving his financial package and the overly generous pay and perks of his hand-picked VP brigade. UNM pays Schmidly a mere $587,000, and he's so overworked at that price that he found it necessary to hire a battalion of VPs to help manage his responsibilities and run special initiatives he favors.

Rather than advocating on behalf of students, faculty and the university's core mission, Schmidly seems intent on protecting his bloated administrative budget. It's all for one and one for all in the top echelons of America's businesses and institutions.

An article in the Albuquerque Journal reports:

Schmidly, who receives more than $587,000 in base salary and other compensation, said he's not prepared to take a pay cut. He said other university presidents across the country who are doing so make more than him and are just doing it as a publicity stunt.

He also said he doesn't think UNM has too many vice presidents, and he won't reduce their pay. Referencing a study conducted earlier this year, he said most of the vice presidents make less than counterparts at peer institutions.

... Schmidly has ordered cost-cutting measures that include a partial hiring freeze and a freeze on pay raises.

Schmidly was challenged by many in the crowd including faculty:

One lightning rod at the town hall was Schmidly's spending on special initiatives, such as creating a new division of enrollment management with an additional vice president.

John Oetzel, chairman of communication and journalism, compared the initiatives to "lavish vacations." He noted that some departments don't have administrators and some don't have academic advisers. During economic crises, you don't stop feeding your family," Oetzel said. "You stop taking lavish vacations."

There wasn't much sympathy in the crowd for Schmidly's point of view -- or for his whining about his personal investment losses:

Moderator Richard Wood, director of UNM's religious studies program, called for civility, but there was hostility anyway. Some snickered when Schmidly said his pay was not as high as other presidents and that he might never be able to retire because of the stock market crash. [emphasis mine]

Oetzel noted that over the last decade, the number of tenure track faculty is down 10 percent in the College of Arts and Sciences while student credit hours are up 32 percent. He also said executive salaries have increased 71 percent since 2002.

If Schmidly believes he won't be able to retire on the decades of lavish pay and benefits he's received while operating at the top of the education heap, I wonder what he thinks ordinary rank and file workers and academics will do. Or if he cares.

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