College of DuPage Asking Full-time Faculty to Pay One-Third of Tuition and Fees
Illinois lawmakers are considering a bill to eliminate tuition discounts for faculty and staff of state public universities. Click here to read the full article from the Chronicle of Higher Education. Leaders advocating the bill say the state can't afford to continue offering tuition waivers, which costs the state approximately $8 million.
“This is a striking example of the difficult decisions required of our lawmakers to bring about meaningful budget reform,” College of DuPage President Robert L. Breuder said. “At College of DuPage, we have implemented a new policy whereby employees and their dependents pay one-third the cost of in-district tuition. This new policy has been approved by our Board of Trustees for administrators and has been incorporated into three employee contracts.”
College of DuPage is currently asking for full-time faculty also to pay one-third of the cost of tuition as part of ongoing contract negotiations.
“Currently full-time faculty and their dependents take COD classes for free,” COD Vice President for Human Resources Linda Sands-Vankerk said. “We believe it is reasonable for faculty and their dependents to pay one-third of the cost of tuition and all fees associated with classes, as is required of other COD employee groups.”
Below are some of the key facts regarding the College's negotiations with the full-time faculty.
The College is currently in negotiations to realign the current full-time faculty contract to reflect present economic conditions and public expectations. The College has already successfully negotiated three other employee contracts this year.
COD full-time faculty members have an average annual salary for a nine-Month
(168 working days) teaching load of approximately $100,000. IBHE Data (2010) indicates that COD is at the highest average salary for all Illinois community colleges and public four-year institutions.
The College has offered increases to overall faculty salaries of 2.85, 3.15, 3.55 and 4.15 percent over the course of this contract. This represents an annual compounded yield of 3.42 percent.
COD seeks to end a lavish retirement benefit that allows faculty to earn a BONUS of up to 100 percent of their base pay (current average faculty base is approximately $100,000) which is paid during their final years of employment and post retirement. This bonus is in addition to their salary and pension payments. This “Supplemental Retirement” is not a responsible use of taxpayer or tuition dollars, and the College believes this should end.
The College has proposed that all faculty pay 20 percent of health care premiums, which is consistent with other employee groups and the general market at large. Currently, full-time faculty members pay 20 percent toward family coverage, but faculty members with single coverage pay only 10 percent.
Currently full-time faculty and their dependents take COD classes for free. COD believes it is reasonable for faculty and their dependents to pay one-third of the cost of tuition and all fees associated with classes, as is required of other employee groups.
College of DuPage currently pays a premium to have a summer course taught by a full-time faculty member versus a part-time faculty member. With an average nine-month salary of approximately $100,000, a full-time faculty member would receive $23,000 to teach nine summer credit hours compared to approximately $9,000 paid to a part-time faculty member. College of DuPage proposes gradually reducing full time faculty summer teaching pay to a more reasonable level, but an amount which is still a premium above what is paid to a part-time faculty member.
Currently up to 15 faculty members (out of 300) a year can be released for a full-year sabbatical leave at 75 percent pay or a one-semester leave at full-pay. The College wishes to limit the number of faculty one-semester /sabbatical leaves to five per year and reduce compensation for full-year sabbatical leaves to 50 percent pay, which is in line with other institutions.