Candidates

There are now three official candidates for President of the University of Toledo.  I would like faculty to add to the minimal information we have with anything they have learned.  Does anyone have experience with any of these fine applicants?  Does anyone have a friend of a friend who has experience with them?  Also, what kinds of questions would you like them to answer when they arrive here in the middle of winter?  Is there anything you have read in their resumes that you are happy with or concerned about?  The floor is now open for comments. 

Further "Updation"

Be Second Opinion Sure

Linda Rouillard

UT-AAUP Vice-President

On Friday, January 9, 2015 the UT-AAUP and the BOT completed three days of mediation. So far we have discussed workload for both units, definite progress since the BOT had previously refused to consider workload at all.

During these meetings, we also listened to a presentation on UT finances given by Mr. Dave Morlock, accompanied by Mr. Tom Biggs. Dr. Rudy Fichtenbaum, President of the AAUP and Dr. Howard Bunsis, Chair of the AAUP-CBC (Collective Bargaining Congress), traveled to UT to listen to the presentation with us; however, the BOT's team refused to allow them to attend the presentation.

Mr. Morlock's presentation consisted of a budget comparison of FY 2011 through FY 2015, along with a five-year projection. We find it odd that past budget projections were presented in mediation talks which will address faculty compensation, while actual audited financials were not referenced.

Budgets are merely plans for the future. Actual financials tell us what occurred with our money and as such are much better indicators of potential trends. It is more important to know what happened to UT's money than to hear about the Administrative's hopes and dreams, or their nightmare scenarios.

Mr. Morlock's five-year budget comparison highlighted a total five-year decline in enrollment of 12%, a 13% decrease in SSI, a 16% decline in Sales and Service Revenue, along with rising healthcare/benefits costs, for a total five-year income reduction of $60 million, accompanied by a $943,000 increase in expenditures.

On the other hand, in their fact-based second opinion evaluating the audited financials of UT, Dr. Fichtenbaum and Dr. Bunsis have given us a very different assessment of the state of UT's financial health:

In 2014, UT produced a bottom line positive cash flow of $30 million.

In 2013, UT produced a bottom line positive cash flow of $50 million.

The audited financials show the following increases in net position for the past five years:

2014	$24 million
2013	$9 million
2012	$5 million
2011	$67.8 million
2010	$44 million

Our Ohio Senate Bill 6 ratios, a rating that evaluates levels of assets, debt, reserves, revenues, and expenses, has climbed to a healthy 3.80, putting us very close to that of Ohio State at 3.90.

UTMC has recently rebranded itself as University Health. Billboards invite potential patients to “be second opinion sure,” which is definitely good advice. We took that advice and received the following diagnosis:UT finances are healthy!

Hope???

Happy New Year to one and all from your friends at the Blog.


So we seem to have the same amount of info on both the Presidential Search and Negotiations as we had before our break.  If the BOT follows the "schedule" traced out for us earlier  they will be doing interviews at airport hotels soon.  (We'll presume for a new president.)  When Akron had reached this point their Board saw fit to give to its constituents the list of semifinalists.  I wouldn't hold my breath waiting.  After all what would the Serfs do with such a list except wreak havoc in some undesirable way?




It was my pleasure to see Camelot when it came to Toledo recently.  At the beginning of the show, the King sings, "I wonder what the King is up to tonight."  If you supplant King with Board, it might just give a nice representation of what is going on with the Search.  At the end of the song, the King concludes he's scared.  And that's what the King is doing tonight.  I will leave it to our readers to draw their own conclusions as to what the Board is up to, but given the last several occupants of the castle, scared might be just be a useful adjective.  (Don't you just love transparency?)