UM Faculty Disagree on Administration Pay, Some Support New Budget
Last week many professors from history and language departments at the University of Montana vented frustration over budget cuts at the UM, and described the administration as bloated and dishonest, but Business School Professor Dr. Joshua Herbold, said those professors don’t speak for everyone.
"I don't want to make the mistake of speaking for anyone other than myself," Herbold said. "But as a faculty member, I think it's important that we as a university react to what's happening in the world around us. If students are taking more of a course in any field, we need to put some more sources into that. That doesn't mean ignoring everything else, but we have to put the resources where the demand is."
Conversely, Herbold said if students are choosing to not take particular classes then fewer resources should be devoted to that class. Herbold said that the pay for administrators at UM has to be compared with salaries at other schools before those salaries are considered out of bounds.
"I think it depends on what you consider 'out of bounds,'" Herbold said. "For a university president, ours makes less than quite a few of them, even in the area. Not even comparing to Harvard...Of course, the Harvard president makes more than the University of Montana president does. But even comparing to the schools in the area, both here and at Montana State, our presidents both make less than everybody else."
The Faculty Senate of the University of Montana will meet tomorrow, November 24, at 4:00 p.m. in the Skaggs Building for what promises to be a weighty discussion about the recent budget cuts proposed earlier this month.