Getting the Numbers Right

Happy Memorial Day weekend.

In yesterday's News Gazette there was a story (Costly administrator posts a factor in spiraling tuitions) that described a report produced by Illinois Senate Democrats, and can be found at: 

http://www.illinoissenatedemocrats.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4850:senate-democrat-report-on-executive-compensation-at-public-colleges-and-universities&catid=101:blog-posts&Itemid=450

Near the bottom of the page, there is a video and throughout the actual report, there are allegations (I assume true) that, "...in one recent 5 or 6 year period, the number of administrative employees at colleges and universities in Illinois increased by more than a third. That is a massive growth of non-instructional personnel at our institutions of public higher education."

There are lots of other components to the report that focus on compensation and perks, length of contracts for senior administrators, etc. You can and should draw your own conclusions about those matters. I am focusing on the administrative question today because it appears that Parkland College is guilty by association. That is not right. There are data.

In the report, page 11, it says:

"At community colleges in Illinois, there was a 13.5% increase in full time equivalency administrative staff from 2005 to 2013. During the same period, there was a 6.8% increase in FTE instructional faculty, and a 3.9% increase in FTE student enrollment.23
To summarize, while tuition and fees have risen exponentially, the corresponding increases in staff is not reflected in increased numbers of faculty, but in increases in the numbers of administrators, both nation-wide and in Illinois."

In November of 2012, I wrote a post about this very issue, called The Golden Ratio. In that posting, I wrote that two economic researchers believed that they had identified an ideal ratio of factly to administrators as 3:1. For colleges to operate most effectively, they say, each institution should employ three tenured or tenure-track faculty for every one full-time administrator. 

Here is an excerpt:

1.     What is Parkland's ratio of administrators to faculty? 

Response: For the current academic year, there are 189 Full-time, tenured (or tenure-track) faculty and 39 administrators, for a ratio of 4.8:1.

In other words, there are 4.8 FT faculty for every 1 administrator. If we exclude administrators that have been hired solely to administer grants, the ratio is 5:1 (5.1:1 to be exact).

If the ratio of 3 FT faculty for every 1 administrator were to be embraced by Parkland College, we would need to hire an additional 24 administrative positions. 

We have historically prioritized full-time teaching faculty positions.

 2.     What is the ratio of full time faculty to part time?  

Response: 54% Full-time and 45% Part-time.

Our performance indicator benchmark ratio is 60:40. We are off by 5%.

Proportion of equated contact hours (ECH) by full and part-time faculty 

Faculty Fall Load Data* % ECH for	2006  (Fall 2005)	2007  (Fall 2006)	2008  (Fall 2007)	2009  (Fall 2008)	2010  (Fall 2009)
Full-time faculty (includes overloads and emeritus)	56.8%	55.1%	55.7%	56.4%	54.3%
Part-time faculty	43.2%	44.9%	44.3%	43.6%	45.7%

The 2015 update to this information is even more interesting. In 2012, Parkland employed 39 administrators. Today, we have 43. That's an increase of just under 7% and it is temporary. Due to the re-organization of academic services, we are (for one year) overstaffed in administration. By July of 2016, our total count will be less that 37. Possibly as low as 35.

The math: 

Using 2015 numbers, our ratio is 4.39:1 and in July of 2016, it will be around  5.7:1. 

The Senate Democrat's report, however, uses a student to administrator ratio.

"In 1975, colleges and universities employed one administrator for every eighty-four students and one professional staffer—admissions and communications officers, information technology specialists—for every fifty students.19 By 2005, the administrator-to-student ratio had dropped to one administrator for every sixty-eight students while the ratio of professional staffers had dropped to one for every twenty-one students.20" 

For Parkland College, using 2013-2014 data, our credit student to administrator ratio is 497:1. This ratio does not include the 4000 or so non-credit student that enroll each year, yet our administrative count does include those that are responsible for the non-credit programs.

It is our collective responsibility to ensure that friends, family, neighbors, and taxpayers have correct data and an understanding of what happens at the community's College.

Let's be sure the facts are known. Painting with too big of a brush makes for sloppy work.





(30,292)

Illinois Supreme Court rules landmark pension law unconstitutional

Be sure to read your legislator's reactions, appended to the bottom of he article.

Tom


The following news article is reprinted from the Chicago Tribune at:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-illinois-pension-law-court-ruling-20150508-story.html

(ICCTA Note: The Illinois Supreme Court's decision is available online at http://www.illinoiscourts.gov/Opinions/SupremeCourt/2015/118585.pdf.)

---

Illinois Supreme Court rules landmark pension law unconstitutional

By Rick Pearson and Kim Geiger

Clout Street

May 8, 2015   10:35 AM

The Illinois Supreme Court on Friday unanimously ruled unconstitutional a landmark state pension law that aimed to scale back government worker benefits to erase a massive, $105 billion pension debt.

At issue is a law approved by the legislature and signed in December 2013 by then-Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn which was aimed at gradually reducing Illinois' worst-in-the-nation unfunded public employee pension liability.

The law called for curbing automatic and compounded annual cost-of-living increases for retirees, extending retirement ages for current state workers and limiting the amount of salary used to figure pension benefits.

In November, Sangamon County Circuit Judge John Belz struck down the law, ruling that state constitutional protections to pension benefits were "absolute and without exception," prompting the state to appeal to the high court.

For decades, governors and state lawmakers failed to put enough money into the public employee pension systems covering most state workers, university employees, as well as suburban and downstate teachers.

Now, state spending on pensions amounts to almost a quarter of every tax dollar that goes into the state's general bank account.

The decision by the high court came almost two months after justices heard oral arguments from the state, contending the constitutional pension protection clause was not an absolute guarantee, particularly at a time of great financial emergency.

But lawyers for public employee unions and retirees argued cuts to retirement benefits shouldn’t occur because of decades of financial mismanagement by the state for failing to adequately fund the employer’s share of pension costs.

The decision not only affects Illinois, but taxpayers in Chicago and towns throughout Illinois struggling to cope with growing pension debts that are straining government budgets.

Previously, the state’s highest court ruled an effort to make state retirees pay more for their state-subsidized health care violated the constitution's pension protection clause.

In that case, the court found that the constitutional guarantee was "aimed at protecting the right to receive the promised retirement benefits, not the adequacy of the funding to pay for them."

# # # # #

Here are some of the legislators reactions:

*Speaker Madigan- spokesman said his boss will “take it under review” and continue to work on the issue, which he said was of vital importance to the state’s future.

* Senate President John Cullerton- From the beginning of our pension reform debates, I expressed concern about the constitutionality of the plan that we ultimately advanced as a test case for the court. Today, the Illinois Supreme Court declared that regardless of political considerations or fiscal circumstances, state leaders cannot renege on pension obligations. This ruling is a victory for retirees, public employees and everyone who respects the plain language of our Constitution.

That victory, however, should be balanced against the grave financial realities we will continue to face without true reforms. If there are to be any lasting savings in pension reform, we must face this reality within the confines of the Pension Clause. I stand ready to work with all parties to advance a real solution that adheres to the Illinois Constitution.”

*Rahm Emanual- “Since taking office, our goal has been to find a solution to Chicago’s pension crisis that protects taxpayers while ensuring the retirements of our workers are preserved — something we achieved with Chicago’s pension reform for the Municipal and Laborers funds. That reform is not affected by today’s ruling, as we believe our plan fully complies with the State constitution because it fundamentally preserves and protects worker pensions rather than diminishing or impairing them. While the State plan only reduced benefits, the City’s plan substantially increases City funding which will save both funds from certain insolvency within the next ten to fifteen years and ensure they are secured over the long-term. Further, unlike the State plan, the City’s plan was the result of negotiation and partnership with 28 impacted unions to protect the retirements of the 61,000 city workers and retirees in these funds and ensure they will receive the pensions promised to them.”

* House Republican Leader Jim Durkin- “I respect the Illinois Supreme Court, but disagree with the ruling. I am prepared to continue working on meaningful legislative reforms to save our public pension systems.”

* Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno…“Illinois has the nation’s worst-funded pension system and the biggest pension deficit of any state. Nearly a quarter of our budget goes directly to pensions or to pay off past loans used to cover short-term pension costs.  I am committed to working with everyone to find a solution that adheres to the Constitution. We must to work together in bipartisan cooperation with Governor Rauner – who has demonstrated his commitment to tackle the most difficult problems facing Illinois"

* State Rep. Elaine Nekritz- “Our goal from the beginning of our work on pension reform has been to strike a very careful, very important balance between protecting the hard-earned investments of state workers and retirees and the equally important investments of all taxpayers in education, human and social services, health care and other vital state priorities. In its ruling today, the Supreme Court struck down not only the law but the core of that balance. Now our already dire pension problem will get that much worse and our options in striking that balance are limited. Our path forward from here is now much more difficult, and every direction will be more painful than the balance we struck in Senate Bill 1.”

Moody’s…“Moody’s is currently reviewing the Illinois Supreme Court pension reform decision and analyzing its potential impact on the credit condition of the State of Illinois, the City of Chicago, public universities, and other Illinois municipalities and school districts. For the state, Moody’s current rating and outlook did not factor in the proposed pension reforms, but the ruling provides additional evidence that pension benefit reductions will not be permitted.”

(30,091)