Written by / Compiled by KMI Media Group staff
MAE 2010 Volume: 5 Issue: 7 (September)
Postdocs at UC Approve Contract
Members of the nation’s largest union of postdoctoral scientists overwhelmingly ratified its first contract with the University of California. The contract between the Postdoctoral Researchers Organize/United Auto Workers union and the university will tie the researchers’ annual compensation to the federal government’s pay scale for postdoctorates at the National Institutes of Health and promise annual increases of between 1.5 percent and 3 percent, depending on the size of their stipends, between 2010 and 2015. The contract could also require postdoctorates to make some contributions to their health premiums in 2012 and beyond. The union, which represents an estimated 10 percent of the postdoctoral researchers in the U.S., won recognition in 2008.
Colleges Ask for Clarification on Student Health Plan Qualification
The American Council on Education and other higher education groups have asked federal health officials to clarify that comprehensive student health plans would qualify as “minimum essential coverage” under the recently enacted health care reform law. In a letter signed by 13 groups, ACE asked Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Nancy-Ann DeParle, head of the White House health reform office, to clarify in regulation that student health plans would not be considered expensive individual plans in a way that could force their price to rise. The groups also asked that the plans be exempted from provisions in the law that could require them to change their design and reach.
“We are concerned the application of several provisions under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [ACA], including certain insurance market reforms and the individual mandate, could make it impossible for colleges and universities to continue to offer student health plans,” the letter says. “In order to preserve the ability of institutions to provide this affordable coverage under ACA, we would like to work with you to secure the urgently needed regulatory confirmation.”
Students under UNC System Can Opt out of Abortion Coverage
Public university students enrolled in a new UNC system health insurance plan can opt out of abortion coverage. Although the plan covers the procedure, UNC system officials said that it can now be removed from student plans upon request. The decision followed complaints from followers of a national anti-abortion organization.
“No student will be required to have this coverage as part of their health care plan, nor will they be paying for anybody else,” said UNC President Erskine Bowles.
Students who choose not to have the abortion coverage will not save any money. “It has no effect on the cost whatsoever,” Bowles said. “It didn’t before; it won’t now.”
The coverage was not a factor in the cost of the health care premiums, which are about $350 to $375 per semester, depending on the campus.
Bowles’ decision came after he and members of the UNC system’s Board of Governors received e-mail pleas that were prompted by Students for Life of America, a national organization with affiliates at UNC-Chapel Hill, N.C. State, UNC Charlotte and other universities across the state.
“I think the opt-out is a step in the right direction, but it’s not a solution,” said Kristan Hawkins, the national organization’s executive director. “I don’t want anyone to have abortion coverage. Abortion is not quality health care.”
Students at UNC system schools are not required to buy health insurance from the system, but as of this fall, they must have insurance. Prior to this mandate, 11 of 16 campuses required students to have health insurance.
About 90,000 of more than 200,000 eligible students have thus far opted out of the university’s health plan by proving they have other insurance, said Joni Worthington, a UNC system spokeswoman.
Under the UNC system plan, students would pay up to about $750 a year for at least $100,000 of coverage with a deductible that is no higher than $300. Insurance costs would increase a bit for students at many campuses, but premiums would drop for students at UNC-CH, NCSU and five others. According to higher education officials, the overall benefits package would improve.
Until this year, students at Elizabeth City State University were required to pay $456 a year for health insurance, with a $6,000 maximum benefit. Under the UNC system plan, an ECSU student’s premium would rise about $250 a year, and the maximum benefit would rise to $100,000. Previously, NCSU did not require students to have insurance, but offered it annually for $1,161, with a $100,000 maximum benefit. Now NCSU students who buy the coverage can save about $400 a year through the UNC system plan.
All students will be notified soon via e-mail that they can opt out of the abortion coverage. Sarah Hardin, president of NCSU Students for Life, pointed out that it is unfortunate that students must go out of their way to get out of the coverage.
“If there’s a pro-life student who misses that e-mail, they’ll pay in to an abortion pool?” she said. “That’s just raising a red flag to me that students could be automatically enrolled in something that they have a moral objection to.”
Purdue to Keep Custodial Work In-House
Purdue University has decided not hire a private company to perform custodial services. Instead, it will keep the 700 janitor jobs in-house. School officials said an internal review found the quality of work done by the janitors at the school is better than what a private company could offer. They also recognized that there are intangible benefits, such as relationships with students and staff and the ability to create a secure environment and respond to emergencies.
“I wouldn’t say it was a surprise of what we found,” said Al Diaz, treasurer and executive vice president for business and finance. “I was pleased with the results, and it does confirm that the custodial services are doing a great job.”
Indiana colleges and universities have been looking closely at ways to save money, especially since December, when Governor Mitch Daniels ordered a reduction of $150 million in higher education funding through June 2011 because of shortfalls in projected state tax revenues.
In March, administrators began an assessment of the services and purchases made across the campus custodial divisions as part of attempting to identify cost savings in face of an expected $67 million deficit by summer 2012 because of sagging state revenue.
Although a target amount was never identified, officials said at the time a change in business practices could save money. According to Diaz, a request for proposal to targeted companies to see how much it would cost for the same custodial services was never issued.
A petition against outsourcing was started by a history professor, and campus and community members also sent a letter to Purdue President France Cordova asking her to not privatize the jobs.
Diaz, however, made clear that outside pressures did not factor into the decision.
New York Tuition Reform Plan Fails
New York State’s Legislature had adopted a budget for the fiscal year that does not include a higher education reform measure that would have given the State University of New York and the City University of New York more authority over setting their tuition rates and using the tuition revenue. The measure has been a major goal of the university systems and of Governor David Paterson.
But members of the assembly balked at some provisions. SUNY’s chancellor, Nancy L. Zimpher, issued a statement in which she called the failure to enact the reforms “a missed opportunity” for the state, and noted that the public university systems now face state budget cuts and increased enrollment pressures without the budget flexibility sought in the reform measure. Zimpher promised to continue to urge legislators to enact the reforms.
John B. Simpson, president of SUNY’s university center in Buffalo, said that the state’s leaders had been unfair to their students. “On top of these very significant cuts, students have watched their tuition increase by large amounts, virtually all of which has gone as a tax to the state, while the university has been able to provide less and less. And we have been forced to continue to operate in a highly regulated environment, more befitting a state agency than a research university. Simply put, the regulatory status quo which we are now left with will not allow this university to thrive.”
SUNY Cobleskill Targets Students on West Coast
As an economic downturn forces California’s public universities to cut enrollment, the State University of New York at Cobleskill is targeting students there who may now be considering other options. Out-of-state recruitment is common among many colleges and universities, but for SUNY Cobleskill—a rural upstate campus of just 2,600 students—an advertising campaign designed to lure Californians is a marked strategic shift, suggesting institutions of varied size and name recognition are poised to make inroads in the troubled Golden State.
Cobleskill’s efforts began last fall when the campus ran a series of advertisements in the newspapers of California community colleges with programs similar to those of Cobleskill. In the spring, officials followed up that campaign with another round of ads, promoting the campus’ agricultural bent under the headline, “Got College? We Do!”
“It would have been a nonviable strategy five years ago, because there was plenty of room at the inn in California,” said Cobleskill President Donald Zingale, who arrived at his post from California State University’s Maritime Academy. Zingale has previously held administrative posts at three other California State University campuses in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sacramento.
“It’s only natural that I continue to follow trends in higher education in my state of origin, and of course what I find out is California community colleges are this year about to graduate a number of well-prepared students … who will not find slots in the Cal State system or the UC system,” Zingale said. “Here are kids who are wanting for a college education to transfer, and we have a number of baccalaureate programs that are well-suited to certain kinds of students.”
Lawmakers recently cut $210 million from SUNY’s budget, and rejected legislation that would have given the university greater tuition flexibility. Meanwhile, California State University, which closed admission for the last spring term, has curtailed enrollment by about 20,000 students.
Some budget predictions suggest those cuts could be reversed by this coming spring, but last spring’s admissions closure was particularly hard on community college students, who often transfer at that time. The University of California has also reduced enrollment by 3,800 students across the system since 2009, although it has increased its admission of community college students by 1,000 students in that same time frame. ♦