GRCC TO MAKE STUDENTS NOT FACULTY SUFFER CUTS AFTER FAILED MILLAGE VOTE

In business the customer is king.  If you don't take care of the customer, you don't stay in business.  That's why a businessman will work to provide more of what his customers want to buy instead of less.  And if his customers will only pay so much, he'll figure out how to be more productive or he'll cut costs.  What the businessman probably won't do in a crunch (for the simple reason that he wants to stay in business) is increase his costs by paying himself and his employees more and then telling his customers to stuff it.

Of course, government doesn't work that way, because government can fail miserably and not go out of business.  So the bureaucrats do not need to respond to the public they are supposed to serve.  Indeed, they most surely will not do so if responsive service means putting fewer of the taxpayers' dollars in their own wallets every week.  An excellent example of this is the petulant reaction of Grand Rapids Community College to Tuesday's election result when the voters rejected for a second time in three months a millage hike for the school.  GRCC President Juan Olivarez made this clear on Wednesday when he explained how the community college's students and not the faculty would be made to suffer for cuts that Tuesday's vote allegedly necessitated.

Of course, the big noise that Olivarez made was that he would not ask the GRCC Board of Trustees to raise tuition on students in the wake of Tuesday's election.  But then Olivarez already got the board to jack up tuition by a record 8.9% after the voters denied the first millage request back in May.  So the students were spared nothing.  GRCC already stuck it to them.  Even though students are going to pay more for their classes, Olivarez announced that GRCC is planning to cut back on those very classes in highest demand -- i.e., basic English, math, and science instruction.  Now you would think that the classes to cut, assuming these cuts are in fact necessary, would be those least demanded by students.  But no, doing that would fail to punish the students in particular and the taxpayers in general for GRCC's failure to get its millage hike.  Thus, students must pay more for less, period.

This gambit by Olivarez is no different than the petty retaliations of public school districts against voters by canceling bus transportation or varsity athletics after losing millage elections.  By the lights of government bureaucrats like Olivarez, the taxpayers exist to feed the system and the first priority of that system is to turn taxpayers dollars into compensation for its employees.  So when the taxpayers say no to coughing up more of their dough, then they must be taught a lesson.  The system must cut those services which the taxpayers find most inconvenient (at least, noticeably so in the short term) to lose.  In the case of GRCC, this would be the basic courses students need for their vocational training.

Do you doubt that the faculty, and not the students, comes first at GRCC?  The faculty's contract with GRCC expires on August 31st.  School officials made it clear to the Grand Rapids Press on Wednesday that the failure of the millage request would have no affect on the negotiation of salary and benefits.  The faculty association's president, Fred van Hartesveldt got the message when he told the Press that the millage request was not about the taxpayers' compensation to the faculty but about providing students with the services and capital improvements they need, and so the voters have decided that it is the students and not the faculty who must suffer.  Thus, van Hartesveldt has crystallized the entitlement mentality of the bureaucrats, which Olivarez is loathe to disturb.

And this is the upside-down world of the government bureaucrat.  If the public won't pay more, deny them the services they want while increasing the size of your paycheck.  After all, the one thing the bureaucrat knows for sure is that no matter how poorly he serves the public, the government is not going out of business.

Comments

[Amie]

This is why I opted for an out of state college to get my degree!

[The Executive Director]

Hi, Amie.

Your comment reminded me of my brief college career at a state university. I worked to cover my tuition and dorm bill (at least until I got fed with college altogether and enlisted in the Air Force). So that brings to mind this thought ...

While I think it stinks that GRCC is sticking it to the students instead of all those feeding at the community college trough, the fact is that GRCC, with its big taxpayer subsidy, is still a very good bargain for the students -- even with the tuition hike. If it's a little pricier now, there's no reason students can't work more to pay for it.

Why should students expect taxpayers to pony up more of their hard-earned dollars instead of themselves to cover the cost of their education? How does any GRCC student get the idea that they have a superior claim on a taxpayer's earnings than the taxpayer himself? It's a rather obnoxious attitude if you think about it.

Regards, Bill

[Joe]

I think GRCC had a lot of community good will, and a lot of people see it as a positive entity, but they seem to have blown that with their two failed millages, the revelations about how much money some faculty are making, and the current attitude that their only possible way to contue operating is to raise taxes. Heck, their property tax revenues go up every year due to inflation and property value growth. Many people in Michigan would be so lucky to get raises based on inflation, if any raises at all.

[The Executive Director]

Hi, Joe.

You make a good point. Now that I think about it, my disposition towards GRCC had been generally favorable, but since these two failed millages that's changed. The school may have blown it with the public just like you said.

Regards,
Bill Tingley
Executive Director, L.A.W.

[Nick]

Speaking as an older brother with siblings who attend GRCC (and having had others who've attended in the past) I'll raise my hand in support of that sentiment, too.

We all loved, and still do, to a large extent, the school. But this year has been frustrating.

Heck, things started to get frustrating a couple years ago when they talked about brining in the play Corpus Cristi which depicts a gay "Jesus." That was sort of the first signal that the attitude and the approach of those in charge weren't in line with Michigan values. It's been a downhill slide ever since.

But for all it's doing wrong it still does most things right. Just hard to remember in days like these.

--Nick
www.RightMichigan.com

[B. Post]

You guys beat me to the punch on most of the comments I've been mulling around all weekend about the situation. Additionally what riled me was the GR Press editorial on Saturday to the voters for turning down the millage. Their tone to the voters was the equivalent of "Bad dog, BAD dog", and seems to promise that we'll be seeing more millage requests in the future. I'm still considering writing back in the Public Pulse anyway because what people forget is that GRCC would be more than glad to take any and all personal donations (which I believe would also be tax deductible). So if people feel that badly that the millage didn't go through, they are more than welcome to perform voluntary taxation to the levels they would have paid. I'm afraid I have to use the "L" word here, but liberals love to spend other people's money, and seem to be last in line to step up and lead by example in personal, voluntary contributions. Just me being cynical, but I always figure that having principles may actually involve personal sacrifice.

[Rollnggrnade]

A couple of points of contention:

1) GRCC runs very much like a business which is why the local business leaders that made up the "Future Funding Committee" signed off on the millage request after several years of reforms on GRCC's part and a thorough examination of GRCC's financial books. That's also why GRCC won the Michigan Quality Award this year from the Michigan Quality Council.

2) Only a handful of GRCC faculty out of around 800 make over $100k - and those that do only do so because they a) have a lot of seniority - over 30 years in some cases and were grandfathered in under a different contract back when faculty were in short supply and the college had to pay more to lure people away from the private sector to teach (and they'll be retiring soon; the college has also been incentivising early retirement to save money), b) they put in a lot of overtime (at a rate of 1/3 the rate they're usually paid which saves the college $4 milion/year), c) they perform other administrative functions in addition to teaching classes.

The rest of the faculty (as well as all future faculty members) are under a different contract that pays far less. Furthermore, the college has been implementing salary and benefit cuts to employees for years now (as state funding has declined to 1995 levels) alongside increases in tuition.

2) Corpus Christi was put on by Actor's Theater, a local community theater group that leases the Spectrum Theater on GRCC's campus. GRCC would have been violating the rights of Actor's Theater to kick them out because of the content of the play. As it happened, the play never took place on GRCC's campus because the theater director received an offer to move the play to a bigger venue where it sold out every single show.

[Bridget Dupont-Tingley, Editor @ L.A.W.]

Hello Rollnggrnade,

1)As noted in previous articles, GRCC did have goodwill in the community and was seen as a positive force for many years. They blew it by asking twice in one year for more taxes. Citizens have taken a hit financially in this state in multiple ways in recent years. GRCC was unwise to ask this same group to pony up more cash. The citizens turned down the request the first time, GRCC should have heard the message loud and clear. Going to the ballot box a second time months later was not a wise thing to do. As noted, students who want to attend, need to get a job and pay for this development even if it costs more. Go part-time, take longer to get your credentials, but don't tell the taxpayers it's only a few more bucks. We want GRCC to stop spending our hard earned money the way it feels is best, versus what we feel is best. Like everyone, GRCC needs to learn how to operate within its budget. Like all good businesses, run a tight shop or close the doors.

2.) Hello GRCC professors, assistants and administrators. Welcome to the real world of long hours, hard work and multiple responsiblities. And often these days, minimal to no pension programs, little to no job guarantee, limited raises and reduced medical programs at higher costs.

3.) There is no accounting for taste when it comes to "art". Nuff' said.

Thanks for sharing your viewpoint and additional thoughts on this issue.

Regards,

[Rollnggrnade]

Bridget,

Thanks for your reply. GRCC's request for a millage increase, though only a few months from the initial request, was not technically in the same year. Like many public institutions, the college is on a July-June fiscal year, so the new request was technically put out a "year" later (and GRCC wouldn't have been able to start collecting the additional funds until July of 2008).

Unfortunately that lag will also mean that the cost of the millage being defeated won't be seem until '08-09 in terms of cuts to employee pay/benefits, tuition increases, etc. (though there may be some action taken sooner if the state cuts funding again in October or renigs on its pledge to make up the payments it delayed to balance the budget last year).

Indeed, there does appear to be no accounting for taste when it comes to art. I found it interesting that the year after Corpus Christi, Actor's Theater put on a production of "Sylvia" (an Edward Albee play about a man who has a sexual relationship with a goat) and nobody batted an eye.

[Bridget Dupont-Tingley, Editor @ L.A.W.]

Hello Again Rollnggrnade,

I stand corrected on the dates of the millage. It did fall into different fiscal years. Guess since it was only a handful of months apart, it seemed sooner. Thanks for setting the record straight for our readers.

I wouldn't count on more funding from the state anytime soon. Granholm was just quoted on the radio today talking up an additional tax hike to be carried on the backs of MI citizens and rejecting the idea of another tax hike for fuel to help with roads, bridges, etc. Until this state gets its act together, everyone is going to feel a sizeable pinch in their daily living and pocket books. Including the school and university system.

We at L.A.W. are not opposed to teachers, fellow educators and administrators receiving fair pay for their work, but too often they demand the taxpayers give them what they want, when they want it in terms of increased pay, benefits, perks and the like. Too often, the burden to the population for these demands seems extreme. Since their benefits come from us, they need to be more reasonable and not so demanding when asking for further help. I think people got rightly ticked off when the media, the school, students and the like made it look like the population was simply clueless and that's why it failed. We the people were too stupid to understand it was only a few bucks...Hmmm, I wouldn't insult the one who is writing the check if you get my meaning.

As for the 'Sylvia' play you mentioned... have mercy, the thoughts you have now set in motion in my head are horrifying based upon the plot. The only thing I can really say for sure is ewwww...yuck (not very articulate I know, but so appropriate). My guess is many in this town didn't blink an eye to the content of this production as they themselves are goat owners. :-)

Appreciate your interesting and light hearted thoughts.

Regards,

[GR Person]

[Deleted.]

[The Executive Director]

NOTE: The previous comment was not posted by our editor Bridget Tingley, as was originally displayed. GR Person (whoever she or he is) falsely posted under her name. GR Person is now blocked from posting further comments.

Bill Tingley
Executive Director, L.A.W.

[Bill]

Why don't GRCC teachers teach 25 hours/week as high school teachers do?
They teach many of the same courses (Advanced Placement Chemistry, Calculus, Economics, French, etc.). High school courses are taught as remedial courses at GRCC (Trigonometry, Spanish I, etc.) High school teachers have the same responsibility for curriculum planning and student contact hours, with more students. They have additional responsibilities for attendance, discipline, motivation and teaching accountability (NCLB, MEAP).