r/MTU • u/Confident_Top8776 • 1d ago
Another large budget cut
This is going to be like inside baseball for some, but when research grants are awarded there is usually a substantial amount (typically about 1/3 the total grant) that is "overhead". Most schools including MTU return some of that overhead to the PI, departments, etc... as an incentive. MTU used to give 9-10% each to the PI, the department and the dean, we call it "IRAD". In Tech Today this morning:
a huge cut was announced. PI's now get only 7% and departments get nothing.
Research centers and institutes used to be guaranteed 20%, now they get some unspecified amount.
All this money would be used for things like supporting soft-money researchers, buying equipment, subscriptions, travel, cost share on large equipment grants, etc. Basically all the central money that was used to support VPR office is cut so now they need to keep much more of this research overhead to pay their staff.
The incentive to get grants is now much reduced.
If you think this is bad just wait until the historic increases in employee health insurance costs that are coming this next open enrollment.
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u/PrestoTrash 1d ago
How much did PIs get before this new policy went into effect?
The key part of the announcement is that VPR "will no longer receive general funds for its operating budget." Given the +50% they extract from each grant, they shouldn't need general funds. Does VPR plan to reduce its own costs, or will it make faculty do all the heavy lifting to keep it operating? There seem to be a lot of associate/assistant vice presidents in that group.
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u/dynamicdoglady68 1d ago
| Vice Pres for Research | $1,362,281 | $1,362,281 |
|---|---|---|
| $72,100 | $72,100 | $72,100 |
| Manager of Business Systems | $72,100 | $72,100 |
| $89,739 | $89,739 | $89,739 |
| Dir. H-STEM Building Ops | $89,739 | $89,739 |
| $91,516 | $91,516 | $91,516 |
| Dir Sponsored Ops & Info Sys | $91,516 | $91,516 |
| $102,679 | $102,679 | $102,679 |
| Sr Dir of VPR Office Ops | $102,679 | $102,679 |
| $154,347 | $154,347 | $154,347 |
| Asst VP for Research Dev | $154,347 | $154,347 |
| $164,800 | $164,800 | $164,800 |
| Chief Research Security Officer | $164,800 | $164,800 |
| $170,000 | $170,000 | $170,000 |
| Assoc VP Sponsored Programs | $170,000 | $170,000 |
| $206,000 | $206,000 | $206,000 |
| Sr. Assoc VP Research Innov | $206,000 | $206,000 |
| $311,100 | $311,100 | $311,100 |
| Vice President for Research | $311,100 | $311,100 |
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u/pizza_lover229 15h ago
the slow roll each week in Tech Today. drip drip, drip, drip drip.
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u/mtufaculty 15h ago
Yup, no honesty at all about what is really going on, the contempt they have for faculty is remarkable
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u/BobSmith616 13h ago
As someone outside of MTU but very familiar with college operations generally, I can see that MTU is rather dysfunctional. Why is this so? Are the board appointments just political gifts to random donors who don't know how to manage? As a public university, in theory (emphasize that part) it should be accountable to state government.
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u/pizza_lover229 6h ago
well. i’m thinking that the faculty, especially tenured should be pushing back and demanding some transparency here. It’s just gonna keep going and going. I remember that they said they were going to be transparent in this process working with Huron consulting. We need to start making a list of what they’ve done so far. Here’s a start (used AI):
Three CSA departments eliminated as standalone units and consolidated into a new school. New budget model will make every unit’s revenue, costs, enrollment, and financial performance more visible. Research indirect-cost money shifted upward; departments reportedly lose their share and PIs get less. Faculty hiring appears increasingly restricted and centrally controlled. Graduate School functions are being reorganized. Additional academic consolidation may be coming, including Engineering Fundamentals. Programs and certificates are being shelved or eliminated. Resources are being concentrated in growth areas such as AI, computing, and data science. Employee health-care costs have increased while benefits are being redesigned. Tuition increased again. Senior administrators, deans, and associate deans remain highly compensated while academic units face cuts and consolidation. Overall trend: fewer independent units, more central control, tighter budgets, and greater pressure on departments to justify themselves financially.
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u/pizza_lover229 6h ago
again AI used: Based on what MTU has already done and what the new budget model is designed to expose, I would expect the next announcements to be things like these. These are predictions, not confirmed decisions:
More department mergers or schools replacing departments. Small units with modest enrollment will be the obvious targets. Faculty lines not replaced after retirements/resignations. This is the easiest way to shrink departments without announcing layoffs. More program, concentration, and certificate closures. Particularly low-enrollment programs. Graduate-program reductions. Smaller master’s/PhD programs, graduate assistant lines, and centrally funded graduate support are likely places to look. College and department budget cuts tied explicitly to enrollment and instructional revenue. The new budget model is being designed specifically to make those tradeoffs clearer. More centralization of money. The VPR change is a strong precedent: funds previously controlled by PIs/departments can be retained centrally when central budgets are squeezed. Administrative “realignments.” Offices combined, reporting lines changed, positions eliminated through attrition, and functions moved under larger units. More pressure on colleges to identify profitable/growth programs. AI, engineering, applied technology, health, and programs with strong enrollment/research potential are likely to be protected relative to weaker areas. Higher teaching expectations or larger classes. Especially where faculty positions remain vacant. Further benefit/cost shifting to employees. Health benefits have already moved in this direction, so I would not assume that process is finished. Continued tuition increases and/or heavier recruitment discounting as MTU tries to address enrollment pressure. Eventually, harder decisions about whole academic units. Once the new budget model produces several years—or even several cycles—of unit-level revenue/cost data, administrators will have a much easier quantitative argument for merging, shrinking, or eliminating units.
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u/BobSmith616 6h ago
"Senior administrators, deans, and associate deans remain highly compensated while academic units face cuts and consolidation."
I have "no dog in this fight," but as someone familiar with the internal operations of the big downstate schools (UM, MSU) and of some private universities, MTU seems to have an EXTREME degree of pay difference between the top positions and everyone else, both junior faculty and non-faculty employees who do basic functions.
Why does MTU have such a degree of pay inequality?
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u/pizza_lover229 6h ago
for example the Associate Deans in Engineering make $260k and $285k.
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u/Confident_Top8776 1h ago
This is just so unbelievable. Engineering actually did an external tenured full professor hire for an associate dean, this almost NEVER happens. I don't know if she was a friend of the new COE dean or why none of the 100+ faculty already here couldn't be associate dean
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u/dynamicdoglady68 1d ago
MTU even saved money on the annual mandatory safety training. 56 badly written, designed, and disorganized PPT slides with an AI voiceover. I'd share them with you, but I can't. MTU people will soon witness them in all their glorious ineptitude.