The Problem Of A Public Institution - 1238 Words

Leon Fridman Prof. Connell CUNY Case 11/23/15 The CUNY Dilemma The main issue plaguing CUNY is the same issue that is currently plaguing all of America, corruption at the highest levels of power. The corruption in our state government on the part of the Governor and Mayor’s office trickling down to the CUNY Chancellor, the Board of Trustees, and beyond. This leads budget cuts that don’t impact all stakeholders evenly, causing vast economic disparity. Executives and Administrators continue to enjoy high salaries accompanied by high increases that are disproportionate to the faculty. Who are forced to work without raises in the country’s most expensive city, combined with the†¦show more content†¦The one group of stakeholders that seem to be having a relatively easy time are CUNY’s highest paid employees, the Executives and Administrators. Which brings up the blatant conflict of interest that hinders solving CUNY’s budget cuts. When the Chancellor and Board of Trustees are appointed by the government and are given immense power, they reap all the benefits and none of the consequences, and that extend to the Administrators as well. They make a ton of money and no one is going to force them to take a pay cut, which means everyone below them is at a massive disadvantage, and will have to suffer for their decisions. To prove that this corruption exists I started by looking at CUNY’s 2009 Executive Compensation Plan. Back then the System Officers were making an average maximum of over $257,000 per year, and the Chancellor’s maximum was salary was at $470,000. In 2010 Lisa Federaro publishes an article in the New York Times about the Chancellor’s salary hikes outgrowing the faculty salaries. She reported, â€Å"Chancellor Goldstein was earning $600,000 per year, his base salary doubled over 11 years, and on average his salary grew seven percent per year.† This was still during the recession and the Board of Trustees had no issue giving him a raise the year pri or. Federaro also said that, â€Å"When school presidents decided not to accept raises to show solidarity, Goldstein took the money.† This