Costs put pressure on UC

Deficit fight brings look at degrees and services

BY LORI KURTZMAN | [email protected]

 

The numbers seem daunting: A debt of $1.2 billion. Deficits totaling more than $150 million. A budget cut this year of $27 million.  The University of Cincinnati is not in financial crisis, says Monica Rimai, senior vice president for administration and finance, but "I think we have a lot of explaining to do."

 

UC's trustees heard about it Tuesday, as Rimai and UC President Nancy Zimpher talked about what Zimpher called UC's "elephant in the living room" - financial struggles that stem from unexpected construction expenses; rising health care and energy costs; and operating deficits in housing, student services and other divisions.  The debt, resulting in large part from a decade of campus construction, was planned, said spokesman Greg Hand; just shy of 7 percent of UC's budget goes to paying it off.

 

Read full article here:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070627/NEWS0102/706270343/1077/COL02

Outsourcing services such as housing, parking and utilities.

 

The bolded line is what really hurts. A lot of life and energy at UC may get hurt in the process. It also doesn't make a lot of sense to cut programs as the institution tries to grow its enrollment unless the plan is push them into a few 'profitable' subject areas. Arrgh!!!  :cry:

900 a quarter to co-op?!?!/

900 a quarter to co-op?!?!/

 

Yeah...that will probably happen around the same time that UC switches over to the semester system.  To put it plainly...it's not going to happen very soon, or at least not while we're still there.

UC's harsh lesson

Trustees to run tighter ship after surprise cost overrun

BY DAN MONK | July 20, 2007

 

University of Cincinnati trustees resolved this week to keep closer tabs on the school's construction programs after they were surprised to learn of an $89 million increase in the cost of a long-planned renovation project.

 

The board's audit and finance committees now will receive quarterly progress reports on the $204 million renovation of UC's medical sciences building, a 945,000-square-foot refurbishment that has been planned since 2002. UC revamped its cost estimates for the project in January but didn't brief board members on the changes until July 17 - when trustees were asked to approve a new two-year capital budget at a special meeting. Those changes included a $21 million increase in project scope - adding air handling and lab animal space that wasn't part of the original project - plus $12 million in additional soft costs and $56 million in increased construction and contingency costs.

 

Trustee Thomas Humes said the board had been expecting an increase but not the 77 percent jump detailed in the July 17 report to the trustees' administration and finance committee. The report accompanied a resolution to increase UC's borrowing authority for the project by 140 percent to $410 million.

 

Read full article here:

http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2007/07/23/story1.html

UC institute gets $5.5M boost

Gift to improve Parkinson's program

BY CLIFF PEALE | [email protected]

 

A $5.5 million gift to research treatments and potential cures for Parkinson's disease will help expand one of the growth areas at University Hospital's Neuroscience Institute.  The money from James and Joan Gardner will go mostly to recruit clinicians, researchers and the staff they bring, and add to the more than $5 million investment in the Parkinson's program in the last five years, officials said after the announcement this morning.

 

"We think it's important to come up with a cure for the disease, but also to do something to arrest the progression and research more medications," said James Gardner, a retired executive at Cintas Corp.  Joan Gardner was diagnosed with Parkinson's several years ago and that gives the family a personal interest in the project, she said.

 

Read full article here:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070908/NEWS01/709080358/1056/COL02

UC starts school year with biggest freshman class ever

September 12, 2007 | CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER

 

The University of Cincinnati will welcome its largest student body in 16 years, and its biggest freshman class ever, to its campus for the start of classes on Sept. 19.  Total enrollment is about 36,500, up by nearly 1,000 over the 2006-07 academic year, the university said in a news release.

 

The main campus' freshman class of 4,150 has an average ACT score of 24.2, the highest ever for UC, and includes 71 valedictorians, 20 salutatorians and 29 National Merit finalists, UC said.  The school's UC-21 strategic plan set goals to improve the size and the academic quality of students entering the university, as well as the retention rate, which rose from 77 percent in 2003 to 82 percent in 2007, according to the release.

 

Read full article here:

http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2007/09/10/daily34.html

GO CATS! :-D

well im officially a bearcat now and walked around campus extensively for the first time in a long time.  the first thing that struck me is that UC needs more on campus residential halls.  Is this true?  If so, what are they doing to combat this issue?  UC has what, 4 campus res. towers?  Compared to OSU, who has 11, and 2 of them are over 20 stories(granted Lincoln doesn't utilize all floors for res.) 

UC has no room to expand, though I think they are trying to build a green ON-campus residence hall.

 

There's more like 8 or 9 when you include the rec center housing. There's a lot of off-campus housing affiliated with the university. McMillan Manor is nearby and has shuttle busses. University Park Apartments are right off campus, as well as the Stratford Heights.

They have torn down a few on campus halls over the recent past.  Most recently they were planning to renovate Sawyer Hall, but then decided to demolish it due to high costs of renovation.  The plan was to replace it with new housing, but right now there is a moratorium on all new building projects on campus.

 

There is also plans to build a new residence hall where the Alumni Center currently is (bottom of the steps that lead up to Langsam Library)...but like I said, all those plans are currently on hold.  The university is experiencing more demand than they can meet for on-campus housing.  If they had ANY money at all to add more housing, I'm sure they would...it is quite profitable from my understanding.

You're damn right its profitable. I paid over 500 a month to live in a tiny room with 3 other room mates. Not to mention forced into a meal plan that equals like 11 bucks/ meal , assuming you use all the meals, which you don't. Daniels has to be the most profitable by far, with its quads. They could have at least given us air conditioning  :roll:

UC has no room to expand, though I think they are trying to build a green ON-campus residence hall.

 

There's more like 8 or 9 when you include the rec center housing. There's a lot of off-campus housing affiliated with the university. McMillan Manor is nearby and has shuttle busses. University Park Apartments are right off campus, as well as the Stratford Heights.

 

Yea, but I meant towers.  OSU has over 30 res. halls and that doesn't even include the new Fisher Commons built for MBA students.  Its too bad they cant build new halls, b/c they certainly need them!

A huge number of uc's students are commuters, or non traditional students.  There is also a huge amount of low cost housing stock near the campus to contend with

A huge number of uc's students are commuters, or non traditional students.  There is also a huge amount of low cost housing stock near the campus to contend with

 

These are both important factors, but UC is becoming less and less of a commuter school each year.  More people from the Cincinnati area are choosing to live either on campus or in the surrounding areas.

 

The large housing stock is the big issue in my mind.  Why would you want to live under university regulations when you can live a perceived care-free life just across the street or a few blocks from campus...and like thomasbw said, IT IS CHEAP!  I know many people that pay around $300 a month...and that's with most utilities.

along with all of this, comes another fact about the incoming class... there isa higher percentage of people from out of cincy area, out of the state, and even international students than ever before. This higher percentage, along with the rule (if you live outside of 50 miles, you have to live on campus the first year), new residence halls are going to be required here bery soon!

A huge number of uc's students are commuters, or non traditional students.  There is also a huge amount of low cost housing stock near the campus to contend with

 

These are both important factors, but UC is becoming less and less of a commuter school each year.  More people from the Cincinnati area are choosing to live either on campus or in the surrounding areas.

 

The large housing stock is the big issue in my mind.  Why would you want to live under university regulations when you can live a perceived care-free life just across the street or a few blocks from campus...and like thomasbw said, IT IS CHEAP!  I know many people that pay around $300 a month...and that's with most utilities.

Word! And I get to have a front porch 6 feet from the sidewalk!!

yea but theres IMO, the dorm experience should be had by all.  its a damn inconvenient, annoying, loud, obnoxious hell of a great time. 

yea but theres IMO, the dorm experience should be had by all.  its a damn inconvenient, annoying, loud, obnoxious hell of a great time.

 

I wouldn't know.

 

*asks Mom what she is making for dinner*

It should be had by all, for freshman year. However, I couldn't concentrate or get anything done in the dorm. There was too many distractions. My room mates blasting music, watching tv, talking on the phone, their girlfriends coming over (sometimes 6 people all together in that one room). Everyone in our wing coming in randomly. I know other people on this street from my old dorm and I can call them and hang out/go do stuff whenever I feel like it. No one has a problem with the high cost of dorms because that cost is hidden by loans that cover it. They won't feel the pain until after they graduate. It's total bullsh!t. Everything is over priced.

*talks to Mom about how it's great to be debt-free*

Almost everyone I know from Daniels lives in a house now. Well...all the douchebags are living in frats, listening to Dave Matthews and spraying Axe somewhere.

agreed, after frosh year, time to get a house and privacy along with it.  but i def. look back at my frosh days and get all nostalgic. 

We should have a dorm life nostalgia thread. I have some hilarious stories to contribute haha

David, what floor did you live on at Daniels? Did you live there fall 05 to spring 06? And I agree, dorm life for freshman year was awesome, but way too expensive.

 

"Well...all the douchebags are living in frats, listening to Dave Matthews and spraying Axe somewhere."

 

Wow, without the Greek community, UC would be nothing. While fraternities are not for everyone, we don't get off by coming down on other people. Seems like those not in frats always having something bad to say about them. Where do you get all this extensive knowledge, from their parties?  The life I have in a frat is totally different from when we have parties.

 

Wow, without the Greek community, UC would be nothing.

 

I agree that Greek life is an essential part of any university/campus life...I don't know if I'd go as far to say that the university would be nothing without them.  Everyone would still party and organize random ridiculousness...it just wouldn't be through the sanctions of the good ol' boy/girl networks.

I wasn't even talking about parties, but the amount of activities run by the Greek community.  90% of student groups on campus are run by Greeks, because unlike a lot of individuals, we actually care about the community and the university. UC is still in a transition, and sometimes I wish I did go to more of a classic college and not one dominated by commuters. I commuted last fall quarter and I will never do it again. Never being down there when random stuff happened and the constant fear of an underage DUI sucked!

I wasn't even talking about parties, but the amount of activities run by the Greek community.  90% of student groups on campus are run by Greeks, because unlike a lot of individuals, we actually care about the community and the university. UC is still in a transition, and sometimes I wish I did go to more of a classic college and not one dominated by commuters. I commuted last fall quarter and I will never do it again. Never being down there when random stuff happened and the constant fear of an underage DUI sucked!

 

You are correct that the Greek community is more involved than just about any other portion of the student body...but I would have to think that nearly 100% of these activities and groups would still operate if Greek life didn't exist.  XU does not have Greek life and they still have much of this (not all though).

yea i mean if greek wasnt doing it, someone else would. 

This is relevant to this thread...

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=3267.msg221721#msg221721

UC restructuring debt for Stratford project

BY DAN MONK | September 25, 2007

 

The University of Cincinnati is trying to restructure its financing for Stratford Heights, an off-campus housing development that appears to have recovered from two years of low occupancy rates.  Under a proposal approved by UC trustees today, the school will renegotiate a letter of credit with a consortium of banks in which UC guarantees payments on $50 million in debt. The restructuring will save UC about $650,000 a year over the next five years in "joint use payments," said Monica Rimai, senior vice president for administration and finance.

 

Under a renegotiated letter of credit, Rimai said UC will no longer have to make the joint-use payments in exchange for new pledge to master-lease the entire Stratford Heights housing project if occupancy falls below certain targets established by the banks. Those occupancy levels start at 75 percent in year one, but climb over 80 percent in later years.

 

Read full article here:

http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2007/09/24/daily28.html

Anyone else get the email from the athletic dept post-Cincinnat vs. Marshall? Apparently there's a new entrance for UC students and only a certain amount of students (500 I think) get in free without pre-sale tickets. Did I misunderstand the email or is this a new way to maximize profit now that UC's football team is doing better and that their attendance is up? While we're still paying for it regardless with our tuition...

I also found out that the dorms no longer have people checking you in, due to budget cuts. I definitely don't see that as a good thing.

Anyone else get the email from the athletic dept post-Cincinnat vs. Marshall? Apparently there's a new entrance for UC students and only a certain amount of students (500 I think) get in free without pre-sale tickets. Did I misunderstand the email or is this a new way to maximize profit now that UC's football team is doing better and that their attendance is up? While we're still paying for it regardless with our tuition...

 

They are now going to be distributing tickets to students.  There will be around 4,000 available for students Wednesday morning at 8am...at the box office.  They will also have something like 1,000 student guest tickets, and then 1,000 student tickets will be available day of game...thus reaching that 6,000 student ticket allotment.

 

Tickets are still free to students, you just have to get in line for them now instead of simply flashing your ID.  Apparently they let too many people into the Marshall game and there were some overcrowding issues.

But I like flashing my ID. It makes me feel important.

UC professors' union OKs contract

BY CLIFF PEALE | October 5, 2007

 

The union representing about 2,300 University of Cincinnati professors Thursday grudgingly approved a three-year contract that calls for an 8.5 percent salary increase phased in over three years and changes to the health-care plan that will tie employee contributions to those salaries.

 

But the American Association of University Professors gave UC an "F+" in faculty relations. That stems in part from a lucrative new contract for President Nancy Zimpher that professors said left them "appalled and demoralized."

 

Read full article here:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071005/NEWS0102/710050369/1058/NEWS01

Professors make less now probably more than ever. I don't blame them. TAs make about half as much as they used to!

^ Money Magazine recently released the best jobs in the USA for 2007.  College Professor ranks as Number 2.  Professors are not underpaid.  In fact, I think that the ceiling for effective college professors is higher than it ever has been before.  A university will bid hundreds of thousands of dollars for high profile college professors.  With the high profile professor, the university gets recognition and, in many cases, funding for research.

 

I understand that the pay for professors will vary greatly depending on the department that he/she works for, but all professors get paid well above a living wage (especially with benefits).

 

As a student at UC, I was shocked to see how many 'professors' performed poorly in their role.  Every year, I had half-interested professors and my tuition went up.  If anyone should be outraged by Nancy's pay increase, it should be the students, not the professors.

 

So what, they have to kick in for health insurance now?  Boo Hoo.  I know plenty of people who have to pay for a large portion of their insurance and they didn't receive an 8% raise!

The key to the professors having the 'best job' is that it is rather hard to get the job. There are plenty of professors who are paid less than nothing and don't have health insurance and all those fringe benefits. See adjunct world.

What exactly does an english professor research?

^Are you insane?  Did you read the whole post?

How does that make me insane? Because I didn't respond to your post and instead asked a question which I genuinely would like to know the answer to? I would love to know what english professors research.  I don't know why the hell we can't get along.

 

I don't give a sh!t what Money Magazine says, personally. I hope they have economists writing those articles and not journalists. They also have a top ten list of best places to live for families and they're all small sprawly subdivision municipalities. Totally subjective. If you are one of the lucky professors to have tenure for life then I can see why it's great. If you are a political consultant I'm sure there is a lot of money to make and lots of fun travel involved but there are fewer poltical consultants than there are major league baseball players.

 

We have an insane amount of adjunct professors and their pay is NOMINAL. Also, consider that many of these talented professors could start their own consultancy or practice whatever it is they do and possibly make more. Ohio turns out PH.Ds like they're going out of style. Ohio DOES have too many damn law schools and other PHD programs. A lot of it has to do with the reactionary panic and spending by our government after the Soviet's launched Sputnik. We've been turning out PH.Ds like crazy and there's not nearly enough space for people that want to be tenture-track at a university. Tenure for life with very high pay seems like a great career...it's safe, has a lot of benefits, etc but you increase the supply of professors, the demand for them goes down. Thus, universities don't pay as much for professors because they don't have to. Unfortunately (the way I see it atleast) it means there is less talent teaching and researching as opposed to practicing and I'd prefer it to not be that way and I don't care if their pay is increased. Tuition is raised steadily every year anyway for one excuse or another.

As a student at UC, I was shocked to see how many 'professors' performed poorly in their role.  Every year, I had half-interested professors and my tuition went up.  If anyone should be outraged by Nancy's pay increase, it should be the students, not the professors.

 

Tuition rates were frozen this year.  She is largely getting this raise for the growing enrollment, improved academic standing and improved financial situation.  While UC is hurting financially now it is not because of Nancy's actions, but rather Steger's.  She has worked VERY hard to balance the budget and get UC on a good financial standing.  Oh and don't look now, but for all the grief Nancy got about things she had very little to do with (Basketball program, new C-Paw, etc)...all of those things have seemed to calm down now and turned out to be good moves.  Sometimes the best move isn't always the most popular.

 

I agree with the pay boost for Nancy, but I would like to see the professors get paid a little better...and I'm always for better perks (ie health insurance).

Well said Randy. Hey, she's producing and she's entitled to it. It seems like the salaries for big public schools are pretty modest. I know a guy at UC who's dad was (I think) Vice President here; he went to Drexel where he makes over 400k a year.

Ohio DOES have too many damn law schools and other PHD programs. A lot of it has to do with the reactionary panic and spending by our government after the Soviet's launched Sputnik. We've been turning out PH.Ds like crazy and there's not nearly enough space for people that want to be tenture-track at a university.

 

Spot on!  In Ohio's case, it has a lot more to do with the populist, leveling policies of Jim Rhodes than it did with any reaction to Sputnik.  Until the mid-1950s, Ohio State was the only public university allowed by law (Eagleson Bill of 1906) to offer doctoral education or conduct basic research.  While population growth and the post-war boom in higher education certainly dictated that those restrictions be eased, what followed in the 1960s under Rhodes and the first higher education chancellor (Millett) was a completely unregulated system where every regional state college was allowed to indulge their institutional egos and chase the dream of becoming a "research university."  To name just one ridiculous example, Ohio's public universities offer 9 Ph.D programs in history.  Six are ranked in the bottom third nationally, and only Ohio State's is has a national ranking.

 

Not only is the system utterly redundant and ridiculous, siphoning off funds that could be better spent on the stronger programs but the mass of unnecessary doctoral programs draws money away from the undergraduate subsidy resulting in Ohio ranking 47th in the affordability of its public universities.

 

Undoing this mess of a system the was created under Rhodes is one of the primary goals of the higher education restructuring that Strickland is attempting.  The Plain Dealer put it best in their editorial on the subject when they stated,

 

These goals are attainable if institutions can put the state's broad interests ahead of their individual desires. Their leaders should know that we -- and the state officials who control their purse strings -- will be watching closely." :clap:

I don't have the energy to rumble right now, but suffice to say that history PhD's are probably amongst the cheapest doctoral programs in all of academia to support. While 9 got to be a bit much, I think Ohio could easily support four or five programs. We've rumbled over the state of Ohio higher ed before and I don't recall that it was very productive.

 

 

I don't have the energy to rumble right now, but suffice to say that history PhD's are probably amongst the cheapest doctoral programs in all of academia to support. While 9 got to be a bit much, I think Ohio could easily support four or five programs. We've rumbled over the state of Ohio higher ed before and I don't recall that it was very productive.

 

 

 

Why should they support four or five?  Two or three makes much more sense to me.  Funding 5 would still mean continuing to fund 2 programs bottom-third nationally solely to fuel the institutional egos of the regional state colleges but still completely unneeded in any rational university system.

 

All so Louis Proenza can fly off to some academic conference and pretend, all evidence to the contrary, that there's no difference between his institution and the one in Columbus--taxpayers and tuition payers be damned!

 

In the end, the majority of alumni from Akron, Bowling Green, OU and all the rest will end up supporting Strickland for the simple reason that they don't give a rat's ass whether their alma mater is allowed to pretend that it's Ohio State's equal.  What they care about is affordable tuition, and unregulated redundancy in higher education = high tuition.

Grad programs in the humanities actually end up allowing departments to offer more courses for less money, the wonders of having T.A.s around. I actually think regional PhD programs would be ideal. Rather than require each institution to foot the bill for the programs, Miami and UC could share a program. Toledo and BGSU could share a program. UA, KSU, CSU, YSU could share a program. OSU keeps a stand alone program. Case has its own program. Students could choose their residential college, but advisors and seminars could be drawn from a much larger faculty-base. The other key would be to force each program to specialize so their isn't too much overlap.

Grad programs in the humanities actually end up allowing departments to offer more courses for less money, the wonders of having T.A.s around. I actually think regional PhD programs would be ideal. Rather than require each institution to foot the bill for the programs, Miami and UC could share a program. Toledo and BGSU could share a program. UA, KSU, CSU, YSU could share a program. OSU keeps a stand alone program. Case has its own program. Students could choose their residential college, but advisors and seminars could be drawn from a much larger faculty-base. The other key would be to force each program to specialize so their isn't too much overlap.

 

That's a pretty good idea, and one that's probably a easier path politically than merely closing down 6 of the programs.

I think the slow but steady of move of all the Ohio schools toward the semester system will make it more viable. I know that even though the faculty were willing it was basically impossible to bring the quarter/semester gap closer in any useful way between Miami and UC.