Student leaders have long been frustrated by administrators' failure to make the university budget more accessible during the budget-cutting process. In response, they have posted the 900-page document online themselves.
The posting defies administrators, who have repeatedly turned down calls to put up the document, and comes three days after a top official warned that the budget contains sensitive information, such as employees' salaries.
The budget is stored in PDF and paper form at Hornbake Library, and at about 3:30 p.m. yesterday, Student Government Association legislator Kenton Stalder copied the document to a portable drive and e-mailed it to students and faculty.
The fiscal year 2010 budget was first posted online by student activist Malcolm Harris on his personal blog (24percent.wordpress.com). It is also available on the SGA's website (umdsga.com) and at diamondbackonline.com.
But even now that the budget has been posted, Stalder contends the publicly available version does not break down university spending in sufficient detail and said the SGA will be pushing administrators to publish line-by-line expenditures.
"It's really not that detailed of a budget," Stalder said. "It's 900 pages, but it's a $1.5 billion budget. Anyone looking through this current budget isn't going to really be able to get an informed idea about where money is being spent at this university."
It was partly for this reason that university President Dan Mote said posting the Hornbake document didn't make sense.
"It doesn't do you a damn bit of good when you see it," Mote said, pointing out that though the university recently decommissioned an escalator in Hornbake Library in a move estimated to save $100,000 annually, that decision wouldn't be reflected in the publicly available budget.
This budget is only published once a year, while the university's budget is, in reality, a living document constantly subject to change. In addition, the budget in Hornbake does not show line-by-line expenses, such as the escalator Mote was referring to.
What it does show are employee salaries and department expenses broken down into categories. For instance, the president's office's expenses are broken down into 22 categories, including travel, phone use and mailings.
Harris pointed out that the budget lists $4.9 million in student fees spent on outside consultants but does not list who those consultants were.
"We want to know what it is and if that's something that can be cut instead of our classes or professors' salaries," said Harris, who is also a columnist for The Diamondback.
Stalder said he hoped administrators would eventually publicize the exact documents they're using as they decide the fates of university programs.
"With the budget situation we're in, when we're furloughing our faculty, when we're cutting down programs that are important to us, it kind of ties the hands of anybody that wants to come in and make informed suggestions because we can't get the information the administration has," Stalder said. "It puts the administration in a position where they're the only ones that have the information to make an intelligent decision."
But Vice President for Administrative Affairs Ann Wylie said that the budget in Hornbake is the same budget that administrators look at when deciding on budget cuts.
She acknowledged that the budget was complicated but said students were dismissing it prematurely.
"It's 900 pages — they simply haven't studied it yet," she said.
Ironically, administrators may have given the SGA the idea to download the budget: At both a town hall meeting earlier this week and the SGA meeting Wednesday, administrators said students could easily download it and post it online.
This year, the university created a budget website that provides a broad outline of the university's revenues and expenses. If students wanted additional information, Wylie suggested, they should present the university with a Maryland Public Information Act request.
Meanwhile, Stalder said the SGA is exploring the possibility of obtaining more specific budget information from department heads.
"I just know from looking at [the Hornbake budget] that there has to be a more detailed budget out there," Stalder said.
Stalder expects to present a bill to the SGA legislature outlining further plans next week.
slivnick@umdbk.com
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During the past few decades, much economic research has “tended to be motivated by the internal logic, intellectual sunk capital and esthetic puzzles of established research programmes rather than by a powerful desire to understand how the economy works—let alone how the economy works during times of stress and financial instability,” notes Willem Buiter, a professor at the London School of Economics who has also served on the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee.
Median household income means that half of the households are above the median and half ARE BELOW.
Further, this is household income, not per capita incomeAnd, do you think there are staff living on less than $100,000 a year?
HINT: YES.There are staff making $22,000 a year. How do you think they manage?
Or you don't care because they don't have as much edukation as the dedicated professors?
Do you realize that there are TONS of people living on MUCH LESS? "*****You have no idea what you are talking about. How much do your parents make?? OF course there are people making less but 100K for someone as highly trained and successful as a university faculty member, who likely has a family, is not all that much money I can assure you.Did you know that Montgomery County has a MEDIAN houshold income of $92,000? Even in PG it is almost 70K. Lets assume for a minute that a professor should reasonably be expected to earn in the top 50% of salaries (very conservative IMO). Im MC (a more reasonable comarison) the top 50% of HH surely make well over 100K, probably in PG too though I dont have the exact stats.I used to have the same stupid opinions when I was an UG, I can assure you your tune will change pretty quick when you get handed that diploma, or want to buy a house, or have a child.
I hope these people are making it ok.
Mote, C. D. JR Prof & Pres UMCP $464,600.00
Williams, Gary B. Head Coach BB $408,950.84
Yow, Deborah A. Dir of Athletics $382,574.59
Do you realize that there are TONS of people living on MUCH LESS?
Professors could do sooo much better in the private sector.This is such a load of equine excrement!
What else do professors get that you don't find in the private sector? TENURE. TENURE. TENURE.
AKA A job for life.
IF most of the profs could do better in the private sector then why don't they go do just that?
And what about the staff, like the housekeepers who clean the toilets the esteemed professors use?
If a furlough for a prof making $100,000 - and there are many who make far more-- stinks, what about a furlough for a housekeeper making $22,000? That should do more than stink, that should shame the university administrators.
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