free
TUESDAY
sept. 15, 2015 high 81°, low 58°
t h e i n de p e n de n t s t u de n t n e w s pa p e r of s y r a c u s e , n e w yor k |
N • Grain of salt
dailyorange.com
P • Burrito brawl
Local law enforcement officials and Rep. John Katko released the results of a task force aimed at combatting gang violence. Page 3
The Pulp staff deconstructs and compares Avoca Mexican Grill and Chipotle’s burritos to crown the best Mexican treat on Marshall Street. Page 9
1000
908
872
Number of full-time professional staff at SU
766
800
KEY
600
Oyvind Alseth has three goals through five games and leads Syracuse in scoring after a position switch to the midfield this season. Page 16
32%
of Bain survey respondents said they would like to see greater transparency, communication and collaboration on “major decisions.”
- 1987 - 2011
400
GOING UP Percent increase of administrators for peer institutions between 1987 and 2011:
148
Number of full-time administrators at SU
Number of enrolled students
graphic illustration by colleen simms design editor
By Annie Palmer development editor
O
ut of the many faces of Syracuse University, there is one that has grown to carry more clout than ever. That face is represented by the high-paid, professional administrators whose titles begin with the words chancellor, executive, vice president, chief and provost, among others. Over the course of nearly 25 years, SU’s full-time administrative staff has grown by more than 400 percent, according to a recent study by the New England Center for Investigative Reporting. This change mirrors a trend across higher education institutions nationwide. While the number of SU’s non-academic administrators continues to skyrocket in size and salary, some say the trend has detracted from the relationships that matter most — those between students and professors. “We thought we were the people that kids came to college for,” said Jeff Stonecash, a former professor emeritus of political science in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and
Public Affairs. “The administrators began to see themselves as the body and expression of the university.” A Powerful Inertia
Around 2009, Stonecash began to pick up on a trend. As chair of the University Senate Budget Committee, part of his job was to compile a yearly report of the university’s finances and make recommendations where the committee thought necessary. The report is usually compiled from data given by administrative sources, but sometimes senators do their own research. Stonecash pored over 20-yearold, university-issued phonebooks — now a relic of the past — counting the number of provosts, vice presidents, associate provosts and directors — all administrative titles. The total number of administrators was “unbelievable,” Stonecash said. Employees titled “director” had increased by approximately 285 percent, he said. He confronted then-Chancellor Nancy Cantor about his findings at a University Senate meeting. Cantor was less than pleased, arguing that
administrators are the face of the university, Stonecash said. “Everyone looked at her like, ‘What are you talking about?,’” Stonecash said. “You just got the feeling that there was this powerful inertia to hiring admins and no one could figure out why.” The growth in administrators creates an unbalanced scale of power relative to faculty, Stonecash said. As a result, he said non-academic efforts such as a university’s amenities and stadiums can begin to overshadow those in the classroom. “The whole thing is just out of whack,” Stonecash said. A Culture of Comparison For universities nationwide, the cost of keeping up can manifest itself in many ways. Each university typically has 12 to 15 peer institutions that it may compare itself to in size, enrollment, cost and program offerings. Those institutions can be either comparative or aspirational, said Pamela Taylor, principal program evaluator for the Program Evaluation Division at University of North Carolina.
see administration page 8
VANDERBILT
Increase in administrators at SU comes with a cost
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
FACE VALUE
154%
-48%
174%
157%
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
0
SA President advocates for ride-hailing services to come to Syracuse news editor
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
31% increase
Seedat discusses Uber, Lyft By Justin Mattingly
558%
GEORGETOWN
200
S • Switch the pitch
SU HAS CONTINUOUSLY spent more money on raises and promotions for non-faculty salaries in the past seven years - more than any other level of faculty and staff members. Non-faculty salaries, which are typically greater than $120,000/year, have grown in cost by 10.7 percent. source: report by bain & co.
WHEN YOU SEE A BILL AND SAY ‘WHAT’S ALL THIS FOR?’, YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW. Craig Dudczak
former chair of the university senate budget committee
Student Association President Aysha Seedat is taking steps to help bring a ride-hailing service, like Uber, to Syracuse. Seedat said she is looking to or has met with various administrators at Syracuse University and has been reviewing New York state legislation that would help bring the service to the entire state. Ultimately, Seedat said the goal of bringing such a program to Syracuse is to improve safety.
It was just really really easy to get from one place to another. Aysha Seedat sa president
“Being from New Jersey and working in New York City this summer, I used Uber and Lyft a lot and it was extremely economically feasible for me to use it in my budget,” Seedat said. “It was just really, really easy to get from one place to another.” A Change.org petition was started two months ago by Rise Collaborative, a Western New York-based advocacy group, in hopes of bringing ride-hailing services to various upstate New York cities, including Syracuse. As of Monday night, the petition has 1,703 signatures with a goal of 2,500. Right now, New York City is the only place in the state where Uber is legal. Currently, ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft see seedat page 6