The dirty little word in the college vocabulary starts with a "T" and ends with an "N," and rhymes with "petition." That's right, it's tuition.
If Longwood decides to follow the trend that is occurring around the Commonwealth, it will be on the rise.
Just this weekend, the University of Virginia Board of Visitors (BOV) voted to raise tuition and fees by four percent. That will put the university's cost of tuition and fees for in-state students to $25,000 plus. For Longwood, our BOV decided at its March 30 meeting on campus to table any vote on tuition until after the state budget could be hashed out. Now, I do not have to pay any additional tuition to Longwood since I will be graduating soon, but it's still an issue I am passionate about.
All I have to worry about are the student loans that have accumulated over my years here. I have a lot, but not as much as many of my peers have to pay back - which many of them will be paying back until they are well into their 40s. But tuition is a problem because it's a Catch 22. If you don't raise tuition, then services have to be cut. In addition, those services could equate to jobs. Those jobs could equate to faculty positions, and that is a problem. We can't afford to cut faculty and staff salaries at the risk of losing them. The pay status for many of them is a problem and it is growing just as much out of control as tuition.
The reason we see the annual salary for our professors as something important is because their salary rests on the state budget. Perhaps if Longwood was given an extra couple million dollars, our professors could be getting a little bit more pocket change. However, that doesn't seem like that will be happening anytime soon. With only about an estimated $300,000 left over (based on a 4.6 percent tuition increase for Longwood) after the dust is settled, it doesn't look too promising that some of Longwood's finest will be getting that new pool this year. Instead, their only hope is an invitation to the JELLO-of-the-Month club. (Yes, I hope you are getting the "Christmas Vacation" puns).
The truth of the matter is that Longwood, and similar institutions in the same boat, must start taking on the problem straightforward and fight for faculty and staff to get some more dough. The current salary study at Longwood and the BOV's Compensation Task Force are first steps in the wave of necessary changes.
Some of our best faculty members here at Longwood are paid the same or just a tad over some of our graduates who are going into entry-level careers. That's astounding to me. How is it that my professor, who may have gone to college, then to graduate school, and then went on to get a PhD., could possibly be getting paid less than my friend who is working in a sales job with only a bachelor's degree? I think it is downright preposterous.
We must realize the real problem here: retention and morale. If professors here know they can go to another school in an area they would like and be comfortable teaching at, why wouldn't they? I know Longwood is unique and I know a good majority of the faculty and staff here truly love their job. I would love working here too and I completely disagree that money is everything in a job.
Nevertheless, this situation is just getting out of control with some of the faculty and staff pay rates. When you go one year without a pay increase or a bonus that is one thing; however, a number of years without one is downright scary. I respect the faculty and the staff that work here. They have all done great things for me and I can't really think about a faculty member that I truly have disliked. Some of them are like family to me. You're probably the same. Would you be happy if your family members were paid below the average rate? I would think not.
Please realize I am not calling Longwood out. This is a problem at numerous colleges and universities. Students need quality education and quality services and I believe Longwood is providing that now. In the future though, without good paying jobs, Longwood will lose some of her best staff and faculty members. I hope it doesn't have to come to that.
