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MnSCU bonuses criticized
Published 9:52am Wednesday, November 10, 2010Union leaders are criticizing the bonuses given out to university and college presidents in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.
MnSCU will spend nearly $416,000 on performance pay to presidents and other administrators, including the president of Minnesota State Community and Technical College.
June Clark, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) for two-year colleges throughout the state, said union members are disappointed with the bonuses being given out at a time when employees are being laid off.
“They were for administrators meeting certain goals, and those goals were met, but they were met by everyone,” she said.
All MnSCU employees, including administrators, had their wages frozen for two years.
“Morale is low, it truly is low. We take a wage freeze and they get huge bonsues, and we all do the work,” Clark said. “For us it’s about shared sacrifice.”
The highest incentive was $15,000, which eight presidents and administrators received. The performance pay is awarded based on meeting goals including enrollment, retention and graduation rates.
The performance pay does not include a $40,000 bonus awarded to MnSCU Chancellor James McCormick in June.
Ann Valentine, president of M State, will receive $13,125.
Valentine did not return a phone call by the Daily Journal, but said in the Tuesday edition of The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead that the stipend is not just a bonus, but is based on the progress the college has made on the board’s goals.
“I fully recognize that it’s due to the work of a lot of good people at the college,” Valentine told The Forum.
The Minnesota Association of Professional Employees is again calling for the presidents and administrators to give back the bonuses.
“At a time of budget crisis, management should not get bonuses while employees have their wages frozen and are losing their jobs, and students are paying more to go to school,” MAPE Executive Director Jim Monroe stated in a release.
Tags: M State, MNSCU
