Valpo Strategic Plan

[David81]

How do you keep the university or a business sustainable? Determine your identity and focus and build on your strengths.

VU's identity as a private, Lutheran, comprehensive university dedicated especially to quality, undergraduate teaching has been well-established for some time. Building on that strength means compensating the most important employees as if they matter. That's not the case with VU and its faculty.

By contrast, one could argue that — aside from a legendary Sweet 16 run and the legacy of the Drew family — VU's overall D1 performance and revenue-generation record are not institutional strengths, competitively speaking. And yet folks here will argue that it's part of the core mission of the university.

Personally, I think it's worth seeing if a new head MBB coach will return VU to a place of relevance and if Coach Fox can reverse decades of losing seasons. But five years from now, if it's just more of the same, then it's time to pull the plug on D1 sports.

[usc4valpo]

I tend to agree with your statement. I also think college athletics are going to change drastically in a rapid fashion. Valpo needs to follow the trend if they really want to commit to D1.

Charles Barkley is outspoken but has a point...

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-basketball/news/charles-barkley-nil-college-basketball/tyxtkzbhaenuvo3fneyo4v3b

[valpo95]

what is a ballpark salary for a 30-year old with doctorate in tow? and what is tow?

I can't say for sure, yet I doubt that VU is hiring tenured or tenure-track faculty in any discipline for less that $50K. They might offer part-time or fixed-term renewable instructors for that in certain fields - for example, hiring a one-year instructor of English at low salary just because there dozens or hundreds of English PhDs looking for positions.

In terms of ballpark salaries, the range is incredibly wide. It depends on the discipline and the university. If it is Business, Purdue, Indiana and Notre Dame would hire a newly-minted PhD for a tenure track position for perhaps $200K, including salary and summer research support. As to the high end, just this year, the University of Rochester made an offer for a newly-minted PhD in Finance at $275K. Clearly, VU is not paying that much, yet if they want to hire faculty in business, they probably have to offer at least in the low six figure range. The last numbers I have available showed the Jim Brodzinski, the former Dean of Business, made $214K in 2020. 

[David81]

I can't say for sure, yet I doubt that VU is hiring tenured or tenure-track faculty in any discipline for less that $50K. They might offer part-time or fixed-term renewable instructors for that in certain fields - for example, hiring a one-year instructor of English at low salary just because there dozens or hundreds of English PhDs looking for positions.

In terms of ballpark salaries, the range is incredibly wide. It depends on the discipline and the university. If it is Business, Purdue, Indiana and Notre Dame would hire a newly-minted PhD for a tenure track position for perhaps $200K, including salary and summer research support. As to the high end, just this year, the University of Rochester made an offer for a newly-minted PhD in Finance at $275K. Clearly, VU is not paying that much, yet if they want to hire faculty in business, they probably have to offer at least in the low six figure range. The last numbers I have available showed the Jim Brodzinski, the former Dean of Business, made $214K in 2020. 

Read back to posts by Diaspora (former VU tenure-track faculty member, now happily at another, more prestigious school, earning a much higher salary, with a lighter teaching load) for entry-level salary figures. Your doubts will be answered. I was stunned by those figures.

[valpo95]

Read back to posts by Diaspora (former VU tenure-track faculty member, now happily at another, more prestigious school, earning a much higher salary, with a lighter teaching load) for entry-level salary figures. Your doubts will be answered. I was stunned by those figures.

...
I admit I am not sure what goes into those averages, and of course they vary widely between disciplines/schools. I know for certain that new asst profs in A&S were coming in at around 50-52 these last few years (with the 5% cut and salary reduction clawback, then went down to around $48.5K for me in a humanities disciplines). I know some of the A&S meteorology folk who'd reached associate and been there a dozen or so years had over the years inched up to around the $59/60K mark through promotions. But the going rater for engineering and business school profs is a lot higher, and there are also some specialty faculty (like university level chairs) who have much nicer packages that probably pull the averages up on an institutional level.
...

Is that what you had in mind? If so, it shows that the bottom end of the pay scale is right at $50K, at least for tenured or tenure-track professors (and I suppose after the 5% pay cut). This is still very low, yet is discipline dependent. VU could not possibly hire tenure-track Computer Science, Biology, Chemistry, Engineering or Business PhDs for that kind of money. 

[David81]

Read back to posts by Diaspora (former VU tenure-track faculty member, now happily at another, more prestigious school, earning a much higher salary, with a lighter teaching load) for entry-level salary figures. Your doubts will be answered. I was stunned by those figures.

...
I admit I am not sure what goes into those averages, and of course they vary widely between disciplines/schools. I know for certain that new asst profs in A&S were coming in at around 50-52 these last few years (with the 5% cut and salary reduction clawback, then went down to around $48.5K for me in a humanities disciplines). I know some of the A&S meteorology folk who'd reached associate and been there a dozen or so years had over the years inched up to around the $59/60K mark through promotions. But the going rater for engineering and business school profs is a lot higher, and there are also some specialty faculty (like university level chairs) who have much nicer packages that probably pull the averages up on an institutional level.
...

Is that what you had in mind? If so, it shows that the bottom end of the pay scale is right at $50K, at least for tenured or tenure-track professors (and I suppose after the 5% pay cut). This is still very low, yet is discipline dependent. VU could not possibly hire tenure-track Computer Science, Biology, Chemistry, Engineering or Business PhDs for that kind of money. 

Her observations on more senior salaries in Meteorology -- topping out around $60k -- yet one of the most popular A&S departments, says a lot about how the university regards those faculty.

[vu84v2]

Read back to posts by Diaspora (former VU tenure-track faculty member, now happily at another, more prestigious school, earning a much higher salary, with a lighter teaching load) for entry-level salary figures. Your doubts will be answered. I was stunned by those figures.

...
I admit I am not sure what goes into those averages, and of course they vary widely between disciplines/schools. I know for certain that new asst profs in A&S were coming in at around 50-52 these last few years (with the 5% cut and salary reduction clawback, then went down to around $48.5K for me in a humanities disciplines). I know some of the A&S meteorology folk who'd reached associate and been there a dozen or so years had over the years inched up to around the $59/60K mark through promotions. But the going rater for engineering and business school profs is a lot higher, and there are also some specialty faculty (like university level chairs) who have much nicer packages that probably pull the averages up on an institutional level.
...

Is that what you had in mind? If so, it shows that the bottom end of the pay scale is right at $50K, at least for tenured or tenure-track professors (and I suppose after the 5% pay cut). This is still very low, yet is discipline dependent. VU could not possibly hire tenure-track Computer Science, Biology, Chemistry, Engineering or Business PhDs for that kind of money. 

You could not hire a business PhD for a tenure track faculty position for under $90K - and the floor would probably be about $110K for finance or accounting.

[wh]

IMO the frustration being expressed over faculty salaries at Valpo is emblematic of a larger issue, i.e., are educators undervalued relative to other vocations in American society? It's a big topic, maybe too big for a message board discussion. I just thought I would throw it out there.

[usc4valpo]

wh, great general, high-level point that you brought up. I am sure faculty at Valpo are underpaid, and they are employed at a university that is struggling financially. Maybe their compensation is not 30% below par with all thing being taken into consideration, but certainly underpaid. Who really knows the real numbers.

I think I upset someone who disagrees, and please don't take this stuff personal. Disagreeing on the coaching situation and the buyout should not result in an environment similar to what we see in Congress.

I will say this - if an employee is unhappy about their situation, seeking other employment opportunities should always be considered. You always need to determine your market value. I see some being loyal to Valpo and what they are about, but is Valpo being loyal to them? This is similar to what goes on in industry - we just saw the great resignation during COVID and now we are seeing the quiet quitter. in today's world, people need to do what's best for them. Most universities and companies won't think twice about laying off employees for the almighty dollar or to stay afloat.

[David81]

IMO the frustration being expressed over faculty salaries at Valpo is emblematic of a larger issue, i.e., are educators undervalued relative to other vocations in American society? It's a big topic, maybe too big for a message board discussion. I just thought I would throw it out there.

I think the pay scale at Valpo may be more reflective of (1) a longstanding practice of underpaying faculty; and (2) the university's financial challenges overall.

However, unless things have changed dramatically, VU does not rely on the very exploitative practice of repeatedly paying part-time faculty tiny, stipend-level "salaries" for teaching time-intensive core courses. This is where the undervaluing of educators in higher ed really becomes evident.

At the risk of oversimplifying with one example, let's say that instead of 3 universities in the same geographic area each paying one full-time faculty $60,000 + benefits to cover 6 courses, each university covers the same 6 courses by paying the same 3 faculty members as part-timers teaching 2 courses at $4,000 per course + no benefits.

In the latter example, they get the same amount of course coverage for $24,000. Each part-time faculty member earning a total of $24,000 + no benefits, while working full-time between the three universities.

That's basically how the adjunct system works, and it is running rampant in the liberal arts, especially in covering heavy-lifting core courses like basic first-year writing and large-enrollment survey courses.

[VU2022]

I'm a grad student at a big 10 university, and most of the first and second year courses in my scientific discipline are taught by adjuncts (and the lab supervision and grading done by grad students like myself). I definitely had it pretty good at valpo in regards to being taught by actual faculty. It seems to be a higher ed problem in general where universities hire adjuncts to squeeze a few more bucks out since you can both pay them less and cut a tenure track position at the same time...which leads to the devaluation of educators. I'm not sure what the fix would be for increasing faculty salaries at valpo, but it could be worse as they could eliminate more faculty and replace them with adjuncts, which would tarnish VU forever and remove any incentive to go there

[vu84v2]

David81 raises great points about the adjunct system where people teach classes at multiple universities. From my understanding, the going rate per course is a little higher than $4K - but the arguments hold and also occur outside of liberal arts. The difference for areas like business and engineering is that their accreditation boards require a percentage of classes be taught by tenured or tenure-track faculty, so that curbs overuse of adjunct faculty (note here that Valpo's engineering and business programs are accredited by the highest tier accreditation bodies). I should also note that some adjuncts in areas like engineering and business are experienced professionals (recently retired or still working) who want to give back to their field. These adjuncts are happy to receive some compensation for their efforts, do not need benefits, and can be excellent teachers in a specific field. Lastly, universities do hire full-time adjuncts to teach 4-4 loads. These adjuncts (often referred to as clinical faculty) are paid about 75% of what tenure/tenure-track faculty are paid (and receive full benefits). My view is that good universities emphasize these latter two types of non-tenure-track faculty and sparingly use 'traveling' adjuncts.

To Valpo22's points, I feel that Valpo needs to emphasize that more of its classes are taught by faculty (tenure-track or the latter two types of adjuncts). - not TAs, not traveling adjuncts, etc.

[FWalum]

Also, the 30% less salary for Valpo staffing seems to be exaggerated. Overall, is Valpo 30% below average or are we competitive?

It is real but, as I said, in comparison with the mean salaries of our peer institutions. And it is pretty accurate (distilled to the level of college, rank etc...) It is as close to apple vs. apples. Now, of course, if we change the peer list this difference may change up or down (who knows). Let's have a list made of bottom of the pit schools for purposes of salary comparison and another peer list with the most prestigious ones for purposes of demands on the faculty.


Also, about having 200 days off a year. That's not how this works. But I don't blame people thinking this way it is a common perception. It's just that it will take too much time to explain and I did it too many times on other occasions. Let's just say I should be so lucky. Hey, I might get a second degree and a second job in a more lucrative field.  Pretty much everything needed to actually promote from assistant to full professor will fill in those days no worries.


Put it differently: people would kill to earn 60K for working less than half year no?


But this does raise a valid point: what is the fair salary compared to how much is demanded from faculty? I am going to speak for my field only (which I won't disclose for now). LOng time ago I knew an insider at Colby College. I learned about their tenure process and also about a tenure denial. Altogether, I came to the conclusion that more is expected from a typical Colby faculty than VU faculty at least in my field. Especially if you want to earn tenure (which you have to in order to stay on the job). I think I could have earned tenure at Colby but only because I did far more than I needed to here at VU (and feel stupid for it now).


However, Assistant Professors  at Colby earn on average 90K or so (at least according to Glassdoor). I don't know about full profs but for sure is 6 figures. I can assure you they don't have 200 day off. But it does raise a question about whether VU faculty is paid enough for what they do. Of course it varies (some did far more others the bare minimum) but maybe the solution is to find a different peer list not just for salaries but also for other expectations. For example many teaching colleges have a 4-4 teaching load but next to no research expectation. Here at VU you need research to promote and get tenure on top of excellent teaching. What for? So that you advance to high ranked and be told you are a burden?


You might be surprised but 5-6 years ago, a certain Provost said we need to increase the pay bump for promotion because we have too few full professors and that does not look good. This now sounds like a joke. So, maybe if we drop the research expectation (too late for me  but maybe for the newcomers) and just ask for efficient teaching then maybe the current salaries will be justified. As I said before, you just can't make high cuisine with MacDonalds ingredients

Sorry, I have not been keeping up, I guess I have board burn-out with all of the negativity lately. Was catching up yesterday on this thread and have to chime in. I work on the development/money administrative side of Lutheran higher education. I do not mean in any way to demean or devalue anyone's opinion regarding this topic. I do not know what the salaries are at VU because they do not report information to the LCMS. I can tell you that Lutheran higher ed has a history of underpaying faculty, and I can also state that many Concordia University System professors would love to make what profs make at VU. The highest endowment in all of the LCMS CUS schools is Concordia Wisconsin coming in at $109.3 Million. VU's endowment is more than the combined endowment of all of the CUS schools.


Do the salary numbers everyone is quoting include benefits and other perks? Are the numbers gross or net? I find that those not working on the financial side of things don't always state true compensation accurately. I also wanted to point out that comparing Colby College to VU is not exactly apples to apples. Colby has a FY22 endowment of $1.122 Billion compared with VU's FY22 endowment of $326.7 Million. I am sure they have many more endowed faculty postions than VU.

[FWalum]

I totally understand what you are saying about the differences between Wash U & Valpo but $15M is $15M and I just wish Valpo had someone wanting to give to Valpo that kind of money from a place like Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

There was a $15 million dollar pledge near the end of the Forever Valpo campaign.

https://www.valpo.edu/forevervalpo/2020/02/06/historic-gift/

I have to note that this is a "deferred" gift, meaning that VU will not get the money until the will is executed and will only get that amount of money if the estate supports the gift at the time the will is executed. Our institution was just informed this week of the death of a donor in who's will we are to receive a multi million dollar gift. We will only get the full amount of the stated gift if it is supported by the value of the estate. Don't count your chickens before they are hatched!

[vu84v2]

Concordia (at least Concordia-Wisconsin) follows a model very different than Valpo for many of its areas. Take business, for example. They are not accredited by the top accreditation body (AACSB). On their webpage, they list their faculty - and they probably have 10 adjunct faculty for every professor. Why does this matter? Simple...their graduates get less pay because companies do look at reputation and accreditation when hiring new graduates. Further, many of their professors do not have PhDs - they have EdDs or or DBAs (Doctorate of Business). Without a PhD, a professor's marketability to most universities is very poor...so they make less than professors at Valpo and have worse mobility prospects.

Note that this does not apply to all areas within CUW - specifically, programs for physician assistants and pharmacy.

[FWalum]

Concordia's (at least Concordia-Wisconsin) follows a model very different than Valpo for many of its areas. Take business, for example. They are not accredited by the top accreditation body (AACSB). On their webpage, they list their faculty - and they probably have 10 adjunct faculty for every professor. Why does this matter? Simple...their graduates get less pay because companies do look at reputation and accreditation when hiring new graduates. Note that this does not apply to all areas within CUW - specifically, physical therapy and pharmacy.

This is absolutely correct, many of my colleagues get upset when I tout the superiority of my VU education.  All of the Concordia's follow similar models.

The Concordia's are extremely tuition driven and, in my opinion, in denial of their continued viability. Maybe working in conjunction with institutions that should be in much worse shape is why I don't truly believe VU is in the dire financial crisis being stated on this board.

[historyman]

Concordia's (at least Concordia-Wisconsin) follows a model very different than Valpo for many of its areas. Take business, for example. They are not accredited by the top accreditation body (AACSB). On their webpage, they list their faculty - and they probably have 10 adjunct faculty for every professor. Why does this matter? Simple...their graduates get less pay because companies do look at reputation and accreditation when hiring new graduates. Note that this does not apply to all areas within CUW - specifically, physical therapy and pharmacy.

This is absolutely correct, many of my colleagues get upset when I tout the superiority of my VU education.  All of the Concordia's follow similar models.

The Concordia's are extremely tuition driven and, in my opinion, in denial of their continued viability. Maybe working in conjunction with institutions that should be in much worse shape is why I don't truly believe VU is in the dire financial crisis being stated on this board.

I guess I'd rather have Padilla & the board sounding the alarm early and making sure Valpo doesn't end up like MacMurray and St Joe (IN) than not be alarmed at all

[VULB#62]

I also wanted to point out that comparing Colby College to VU is not exactly apples to apples. Colby has a FY22 endowment of $1.122 Billion compared with VU's FY22 endowment of $326.7 Million. I am sure they have many more endowed faculty postions than VU.

Actually, the only comparison between D-I Valpo and D-III Colby is the enrollment numbers (around 2,500 +/-).

In addition to the $Billion+ endowment, Colby just completed a separate $200 million athletic complex that replaced old facilities that Valpo could only hope for. There are no revenue sports among the 30 sports teams they sponsor, because there is no admission charged to any events. They do, however, compete in D-I Alpine Skiing and came in 16th in the country at the NCAAs last month.  Their acceptance rate right now is around 9%. It used to be around 15% several years ago.  32% of students participate on varsity teams. Graduation rate is 90.5%.

As FWAlum mentioned about Concordia-WI, sure they have an enrollment of 5,000, taught largely by a ton of adjuncts, and they generate a good tuition revenue stream.  But, as a result, their graduates' pay is lower. At Colby, Wall Street and Fortune 200 companies are regular visitors on their campus in rural Maine, 3 hours northeast of Boston. It's an amazing dynamic that seems to be self-sustaining.

But, I will say one thing about that dynamic. The teaching is superb - it seems to be the #1 priority over pure research (but I'll bet publishing is still important).  Truly bright kids (see acceptance rate) are challenged every class by brilliant professors.  And the universal theme in all classes, whether STEM or Anthropology, is critical thinking, writing skill development and problem solving.  For instance, you can major in "American Studies" which is a blend of history and literature, and get a job offer from Goldman Sachs to trade futures on Wall Street without a single econ course on your transcript (of course, if you had some econ and finance, you'd be even more heavily recruited).

And the alumni base generally plows money back almost from the day they graduate. Quite the culture.

Money begets money.  Different world from Valpo's.

[DejaVU]

I can tell you that Lutheran higher ed has a history of underpaying faculty,

Is that a sin or a virtue? I'm not a Lutheran so I have to ask Just kidding.


[quote  Do the salary numbers everyone is quoting include benefits and other perks? Are the numbers gross or net?

These are gross salaries. Do not include the benefits. But even in this area the benefits are sup par with peers (though, as with many things, you can find worse examples). Health insurance got more and more expensive but this, let's say, is not really VU fault. But the contribution to retirement came down from 7.5% of salary to 6%. For those outside academia these seem to be high benefits but it is under the norm (which is usually around 10%).


[quote I find that those not working on the financial side of things don't always state true compensation accurately.

As far as I am concerned, true compensation is my salary plus 6% of it that represents the Univ contribution toward my retirement. Then the university covers about 75% of the health insurance premium. There is also a disability coverage that pays 60% of my salary until I reach retirement age in case I become disabled (one benefit that I would gladly hope not to "enjoy"). There might be other perks that I am not aware of but that is the gist of it.


[quote I also wanted to point out that comparing Colby College to VU is not exactly apples to apples. Colby has a FY22 endowment of $1.122 Billion compared with VU's FY22 endowment of $326.7 Million. I am sure they have many more endowed faculty postions than VU.

The only reason I used Colby as an example is to actually point out that there is a correlation between the demand on faculty and compensation. It is harder to be a profesor at Colby than at VU (just my opinion). So if VU does not have money to pay as its peers then it should at least lower the expectations from the faculty for example lowering research expectations. Especially for promotion. You need good research to earn tenure and especially to promote to full professor. YOu need in fact an external reviewer to vouch for the research value of the applicant for full professor. And then you promote only to realize that the pay gap compared to peers is the greatest for full professors...

As I said in earlier posts. It's the pitiful attitude toward the whole matter not the actual dollar amount. You would think Lutheran morality would include directives such as "hey, we are small and poor, maybe we can have reasonable demands such as being an excellent teacher and maybe a paper or two".  But, I think it's just market rules. If they still have people teaching classes they will continue on this course. I just hate the facade they put forward.

[PMelanchton]

Two observations:

Where Lutheran education has survived internationally, it has been within state tax-supported public institutions as in Germany and Denmark. In such Northern European countries, the state funds public universities, often including a Protestant and / or Catholic theology unit, and sets all public employees in higher ed across the country on roughly the same pay scale and benefits (ie, W-3, W-3 class, etc). In the US, however, the Lutheran presence in higher ed is instead in private Lutheran institutions that have neither the state's financial support nor the state's regulations on compensation.

In the US, the ability to hire adjuncts cheaply depends mainly on location and proximity of other institutions. Many Concordias are located in places where they are more easily able to find adjunct workers than Valpo can, though access to dirt-cheap labor has not saved the CUS institutions from financial straights. Although Lutheran institutions have long underpaid faculty relative to the rest of US higher ed, they are in varying degrees of precarity, so Valpo's endowment puts it on the relatively more secure end of Lutheran institutions today.

[crusadermoe]

Indeed, the endowment funds have stabilized Valpo in a place where they don't re-create a faculty year-to-year like schools on the brink constantly.

The only looming issue is the assumption that investments will rise steadily enough to distribute their current level annually.  The new Fed Reserve climate would tell you that if you rely on endowment, you better hustle your money into fixed income pronto. Last year's market took a dive.

[vu84v2]

Indeed, the endowment funds have stabilized Valpo in a place where they don't re-create a faculty year-to-year like schools on the brink constantly.

The only looming issue is the assumption that investments will rise steadily enough to distribute their current level annually.  The new Fed Reserve climate would tell you that if you rely on endowment, you better hustle your money into fixed income pronto. Last year's market took a dive.

When I have talked with people associated with endowment, they have told me that they plan around a 5 percent annual return. With inflation, they probably need to plan a bit higher - but if you look at the long-term return of the market it would seem that target will continue to be quite achievable.

[crusader05]

Endowment funds are fairly conservative in their investment specifically to maintain stability. Extra money is gravy or can go back in to increase the size but generally they want to have it be as reliable as possible for annual funding.

[valpopal]

Valpo is selling land not buying it.

As I suggested in previous posts (see below), I would not be so sure about that.
***
As we discuss value and viability of university assets, I believe the most interesting aspect of the Valpo Strategic Plan is the Vitalize Valpo Property Overview, which has some curious details. Especially significant is the Eastgate / Sturdy Road section for which an RFP (Request for Proposal) has already been done. While we are understandably and rightfully distracted by possibilities of a new ARC or Nursing School, my hunch is this could be the administration's more immediate main focus for near future economic development by the university.
https://vitalizevalpo.com/property-overview/

The news I was referencing last month is now public. VU has purchased the Strongbow Inn for $2.2 million cash. Faculty knew about this and it strengthened the opposition to the art sale when they voted their resolution in the Faculty Senate on March 15.

[crusader05]

What's their reasoning for the purchase?