Bitterness brewing over faculty pay at Oberlin College

OBERLIN — After salary freezes in recent years and changes to health care benefits, Oberlin College professors are asking for better compensation — and don't feel they're getting far. One request to increase salary and benefits has been rejected by the college Board of Trustees. Now another is pending as students and faculty stage demonstrations. "There's talk about people leaving. People can get competitive offers elsewhere," said Matthew Senior, chair of the French and Italian department and president of the local American Association of University Professors chapter. Compared to similar schools, compensation at Oberlin College "is drifting to the very bottom," he said. "In the last five or six years, we've slid practically into last place." Other universities are acting to help faculty, he said, pointing to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland — a spokesperson there confirmed that Case Western Reserve approved a large investment in compensation Tuesday, though they declined to provide specifics. Oberlin faculty aren't expecting to make enough to buy the latest BMW or Tesla models, said Yveline Alexis, associate professor of Africana studies and comparative American studies. They're trying to stay afloat and pay down their own college debt, mortgages and routine expenses. They're also trying to keep up with inflation, which last year hit 4.7 percent and climbed in February to 7.9 percent. If they can't do that at Oberlin, they'll find teaching positions elsewhere, Alexis said: "We're flight risks. We will be poached by institutions that value us." The breaking point for many professors was a new health insurance plan that Senior described as "draconian" and "structured like a regressive tax." Under the previous plan, employees had options, but the new one offers the same coverage at the same rates and deductibles for deans and entry-level professors alike, he said. With out-of-pocket maximums around $8,000 and closer to $16,000 out-of-network, the plan is hitting lower-paid staff hard, he said. There's even talk about needing an emergency relief fund for those who can't pay their medical bills, Senior said. An anonymous poll revealed "horror stories" about the costs for some employees' families, he said. Mathematics professor Jeff Witmer said that on behalf of AAUP members, he called on the board earlier this month to invest more in faculty. The college is spending big money on projects such as its $140 million conversion to geothermal heating and cooling, he said. That proves the cash is there — but faculty believe it should be spent on people first. Scott Wargo, director of media relations for the college, said faculty and staff rose to the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, and there is "a shared understanding between faculty, trustees and administration that competitive compensation is an important part of rewarding the excellence of our faculty and staff." In a March 1 letter, the Oberlin College Board of Trustees rejected the AAUP's call to return to the faculty compensation plan in place in 2013. "Doing so would be to return to the practice of making consequential decisions without ensuring that they are consistent with financial sustainability," wrote chair Chris Canavan and vice chair Chesley Maddox-Dorsey. "This practice has led to the deficits we have now." The college spends more on compensation than on anything else, they said. Its revenue comes from student charges and endowment contributions. "Neither is an unequivocally secure source of revenue," Canavan and Maddox-Dorsey wrote. Student revenue can and does fluctuate, they said. And the endowment, which last year surpassed $1 billion, is tied to the markets. Witmer, who specializes in statistical modeling, said he believes the college could afford to raise faculty compensation by reapportioning endowment money. The Board of Trustees disagreed. "Anything more than a very loose link between compensation and the endowment would be a mistake; it would introduce volatility into salaries that would be very difficult to manage, and it would limit our capacity to tap into the endowment to protect livelihoods during shocks like the pandemic," the chair and vice chair wrote. Witmer and Senior said the AAUP has made another request for a compensation bump, which is pending. Now the college is in the beginning stages of a compensation study that will ensure pay and benefits are competitive, equitable and financially sustainable for the long-term, Wargo said. "While the compensation study will help us better understand where we need to go moving forward, Oberlin has not been standing still," he said. "In the past four years, we have implemented a 2 percent raise, a second 3.25 percent raise and a third 2 percent nonbase increase. Still, the past two years have been difficult for all of us, including at Oberlin." The board plans to consider in July and again in January 2023 how to address compensation, according to Canavan and Maddox-Dorsey. In the meantime, "there's kind of a restive feeling on campus" right now, with many professors expressing resentment, Senior said. Some canceled classes in protest earlier this month, and students staged a demonstration in a show of support. Another is planned for 4:30 p.m. Wednesday on Wilder Bowl, said Alexis, who has been a liaison between students and staff. "There's a movement forming, and the campus is ready to boil over," according to a statement posted online by the Oberlin Student Labor Action Coalition. "The endowment grows past $1 billion as our professors are denied pay, our resources are disappearing and more cutbacks are to come. It is a dark reality; one where those who make decisions about our campus don't live here and are accountable to no one." The organization said students work for the school and sleep in dorms that are old and falling apart. They feel they "work in a company town" where the college owns everything while understaffing programs and underfunding resources. "We must make demands, not just for labor, but for our entire campus," the SLAC statement said. "We must make demands alongside our professors, college staff, the UAW, and the workers at Scioto (the college's custodial provider). We must make demands for our community." Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.