The job title "associate vice chancellor" sounds prestigious enough. But at UNC Chapel Hill, it surely isn't rare.
At UNC-CH, there were 10 such administrators a decade ago. Now, 19.
We're not picking on Carolina here; this is just an example of the sort of growth in administration that campus and UNC system leaders are now honing in on now as the university enters a new era of efficiency and budget cutting.
In today's News & Observer, we take a look at how these administrative positions - that bring with them pretty good salaries - have grown in recent years.
Here's the story.
To the Chapel Hill campus's credit, its leaders were ahead of the curve a bit, commissioning a study last year that examined the institution's financial structure and organizational charts. It found some bloat and has made plenty of recommendations. You can read more about that here.
Comments
UNC Budget Cuts & Administration Layers
Sat, 08/29/2009 - 14:58 — tmrhyneI read the front page headline “Bowles says cut from the top” article of the Saturday, August 29, 2009 News & Observer newspaper with much shock and dismay.On August 12, 2009, I received notification that my position as the Director of the Renaissance Computing Institute’ (RENCI)s Engagement Center at North Carolina State University had been cut due to a 35% budget cut to RENCI. This budget cut was as a result of directives from UNC Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp and UNC President Erskine Bowles. My employment will cease on November 10, 2009. I am a NC State University employee of eight or more years and I directed RENCI@NCSU for three years.I would like to provide another perspective given the rather strong coverage in the News & Observer that begins to imply that administrators are perhaps overpaid and might do not add much value to a UNC academic institution.As the Director of RENCI@NCSU, I tried to provide 3D computer graphics services to faculty, staff and students at NC State University. These services were not otherwise provided by other units within the NC State University community. My team visualized data sets pertaining to issues like the textiles industry in the state of North Carolina, hurricane isabel and future intense tropical storms as well as supernovas and additional astrophysics problems. We won national and international awards for our quality work. We built a visualization framework to address social and economic factors in the state of NC, a collaboration with the Institute for Emerging Issues. Our work was on display at the 2009 Emerging Issues Forum held at the Raleigh Convention Center.As the Director of RENCI@NCSU, I provided internship opportunities to students, encouraged student groups to use our computer graphics facilities and provided outreach activities to students, faculty and staff across the entire NC State University community.I worked a 10 to 12 hour day at RENCI@NCSU every day and sometimes worked 14 or more hours when we were producing visualization movies. RENCI@NCSU consumed my thoughts and energies seven days a week. I was devoted to developing my staff as well as to promoting the use of computer graphics and visualization across the NC State University campus.As a result of the current budget cuts, I no longer come to work at RENCI@NCSU. My staff is still there but I do not come to the office anymore to provide leadership. This is President Bowles’ “proof” and “solid evidence” that NC State University and RENCI – UNC Chapel Hill has “taken steps to shore up” its academic core.What I want to say to all of you at the News & Observer is that while I might appear to be an unnecessary NC State University administrator or perhaps just a name on the RENCI management organizational chart, I was very devoted to my job. There are also other RENCI colleagues of mine who have lost their jobs who were also devoted to their work. There are also other NC State University administrators and other administrators across the UNC system who like myself have lost their positions. My guess is that these many people thought they were contributing to the important missions of university education and improving the well being of citizens in the state of NC just as I did. We now have to put our lives back together and find another way to address our financial needs in a very difficult recession period. I think it is time that the News & Observer as well as President Bowles and the other UNC System Chancellors realize that the actions you each have taken have impact on actual individuals and their families. My feeling is that we did nothing wrong rather we are caught in a situation where the state of NC ran out of money. I think it is time that this side of the story be told so that is why I have written this letter to the editor.Hopeful you might give consideration to publishing it.Theresa-Marie Rhyne(former Director of RENCI@NCSU)theresamarierhyne@gmail.com3418 Balfour EastDurham, North Carolina 27713919-608-3668