BY ELIZABETH EDNIE AND KELLY LEWIS
Students In Action (SIA) and the American Association for University Professors (AAUP) said they want to know what the College’s “financial position” is and how that will affect employees in the long run.
Megan Mitchell, associate professor of Philosophy and the president of Stonehill’s chapter of the AAUP, said that it's time for students to demand transparency and accountability from senior administration.
“Ask Stonehill to open its books. This is what students at other institutions, like Ithaca College, have done in response to faculty and staff cuts. We have lots of smart folks in Business, Finance, Mathematics, Accounting, etc., who could help ensure that the College is holding itself accountable and putting student education at the forefront of the institution,” Mitchell said.
Jill Goddard, spokesperson for the College said that the school’s financial statements are available online for public view.
“As a nonprofit organization, Stonehill College makes its finances publicly available,” Goddard said.
SIA has partnered with AAUP, launching a petition to the college’s administration and board of trustees calling for fair pay for all faculty and staff.
The petition came after what was billed as a vigil on Monday, February 21 to protest cuts on campus, and has since been accumulating 500 plus signatures.
“I am hoping that the senior administration will see that so many students care about this situation and that we will not just sit back and let it happen. If they do not respond or comment on the letters/postcards or the vigil it will show the entire community how Stonehill operates,” Tahj Valentine, student body president and SIA co-founder said.
Goddard said that senior administration is currently reviewing the petition, and that a response from President Denning is forthcoming.
“While other colleges and universities chose mass layoffs due to the financial impact of the pandemic, Stonehill did not,” she said.
Mitchell said that in order to understand the College’s financial position, senior administration needs to show its employees the breakdown of decisions they have made since the pandemic began and explain them.
“But to do that, we need detailed information about the financial state of the College, not just the overall budget. An institution’s budget is a moral document. It tells us what the institution values and how much it values it. Does Stonehill’s current budget reflect its ethical imperative to educate our students? That is what I would like to know,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said the Faculty Compensation Committee was scheduled to meet with senior administration the same day as the vigil, but it was postponed. Goddard also confirmed that the meeting on Monday was rescheduled to March 21 because of a scheduling conflict.
Goddard said that President John Denning, C.S.C, has worked with the Faculty Compensation Committee on a year-long process to review compensation. He also made a commitment to conduct a staff salary study which he shared at a recent community gathering.
The College has shared the salary ranges for current faculty with the appropriate committees, according to Goddard.
Goddard said for the School of Arts and Science an Assistant professors’ salary ranges from $60,000 to $74,000, an Associate professor from $65,000 to $94,000, and a Full professor from $80,000 to $154,000. For the School of Business, an Assistant professor salary range from $86,000 to $125,000, Associate professor from $93,000 to $139,000, and Full professor from $136,000 to $157,000.
SIA and AAUP are encouraging students to take the next steps that are necessary to continue supporting and fighting for the faculty and staff at Stonehill.
“Our intent for the vigil was for it to bring the entire Stonehill community into the conversation so that the message faculty and staff have been trying to send to administration would be significantly amplified,” Karly O’Keefe, senior SIA representative said. “The most important thing students can do is not let the conversation end here.”
O’Keefe said that sending emails to college officials could make a difference, because college officials value student opinions.
“Continuing to use our voices by sending emails and having conversations with faculty, staff, and senior leadership is going to be crucial in preventing even more people from feeling pushed out of Stonehill,” she said.
O’Keefe said that faculty and staff members who were not able to come to the vigil reached out to SIA and AAUP thanking them for bringing the issue to light.
“The best thing to do as students is to start these conversations with faculty and staff; some may not share their thoughts, but others will be so relieved to know students see how Stonehill’s poor financial decisions have affected them and are actively working to find solutions,” O’Keefe said.
On Monday, February 21, SIA and AAUP hosted a vigil on the quad allowing students, faculty, and staff members to freely express their frustrations with senior administration concerning unfair compensation.
Mitchell said that in October of 2021, faculty sent over 100 postcards to Board of Trustees members asking to speak to senior administration about the worsening compensation situation.
“We do not know if any Stonehill Trustees attempted to intervene, but we do know that the subsequent plan which Fr. John presented, and which was approved by Trustees, was not fair and left key issues, like salary compression, unresolved,” Mitchell said.
Goddard said that the Board of Trustees regularly engages with senior administration on all College-related matters.
“I am not aware of any members of the Board of Trustees contacting senior leaders regarding the vigil specifically,” she said.
Valentine said that students have the power and the responsibility to advocate for fellow members of the Stonehill community.
“The work Stonehill AAUP has been doing since the fall semester to raise awareness about the crisis facing faculty and staff has been phenomenal. However, it is time for us students to help AAUP carry the weight in the fight,” Valentine said.
Following the hour-long vigil on the quad, the almost 300 attendees from the Stonehill community hiked up the hill to Donahue Hall, where most of the administrative offices are, to place battery-lit candles on the steps to symbolize academic losses.
“Since the pandemic began, everyone has experienced incalculable losses—both personally and professionally. College decisions have always been guided by what is in the best interest for the entire community,” Goddard said in a statement to The Summit last week.
Mitchell said she hopes that senior administration will see that many students care about this situation and that students will not just sit back and let it happen.
“In the meantime, we’ll continue doing exactly what faculty are supposed to do—educate our students about the world they live in, including the institution where they choose to invest their tuition dollars. We will not stop fighting for our students’ futures,” Mitchell said.
During the vigil, professors spoke freely about their frustrations, including Bronwyn Heather Bleakly, Biology Department chairperson, Anne Mattina, Professor of Communications, and Danielle M. Carkin Lacorazza, associate professor of Criminology.
Students were invited to voice their thoughts as well. In addition to SIA members O’Keefe and Valentine who spoke, juniors Lauren Anhalt, and Will Guan spoke.
At the vigil, Mitchell read off an unofficial list of roughly 40 faculty and staff members who have left the College over the last 18 months due to what she said was being overworked and underappreciated. She said the list was compiled through word of mouth because no one from the senior administration will reveal it.
“The list begins with a sad, defeated, slump of the shoulders and the question ‘did you hear that they’re leaving Stonehill?’” Mitchell said.
“In a small community like Stonehill, every person lost, every faculty member, every staff member, every administrative assistant, or librarian, represents not only a colleague, but a friend, a mentor, and an advisor,” Mitchell said.
"Battery-operated candles line the steps of Donahue Hall to symbolize academic losses"
Summit Photo by Abby Campbell.
"Student Body President, Tahj Valentine walks up the hill to Donahue to place his candle on the steps."
Summit photo by Abby Campbell.
"Professor Anne Mattina speaks at the protest with Megan Mitchell, and SIA members listening intently."
Summit photo by Abby Campbell.
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