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    The “revenue shortfall” scam

    The story is here. I think there are two things to note here: 

    1: the threat to jobs of our colleagues: "The head of the University of Maine System said Friday that further state budget cuts could force the system to shed 95 jobs, on top of its plan to eliminate 165 in the next budget year."

    2: the use of the seemingly neutral and technocratic term "revenue shortfall" here: "Page said the potential funding cut of nearly $10 million – part of an across-the-board spending reduction to cover a state revenue shortfall – could force the system to eliminate another 95 jobs in the year that starts July 1." 

    The problem with the use of that term is that it hides deliberate decisions by Maine politicians to cut state taxes, thereby creating the "shortfall" that is then the pretext to gut the university. I'd say this is a perfect example of ideology, as the hidden ratchet effect of taking previous decisions as unquestionable baselines.

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    7 responses to “The “revenue shortfall” scam”

    1. Jonathan Rees Avatar
      Jonathan Rees

      John,
      ’tis true. However, it is also worth noting that a “revenue shortfall” will also occur if the university decides to spend money on buildings, athletic teams, hiring administrators, administrative salaries, etc. They count on faculty not paying attention to such things.

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    2. Ed Kazarian Avatar
      Ed Kazarian

      John’s 2 in the OP is an essential point that cannot be repeated too often, the fiscal crisis in public universities is to a very considerable extent the result of systematic defunding of those universities by the states (Johnathan Rees’ comment above notwithstanding, since it to some extent concerns university behavior within the context of the defunded university).
      There are other problems (overspending / institutional debt loads, etc.), but a very great many of them have come about at least partially as a result of state defunding, as Universities try to make up the lost revenue in any way they can.
      So yeah, we need to hammer this as often as we can find the excuse to do so.

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    3. John Protevi Avatar
      John Protevi

      Jonathan, as I read the story it’s a state, not university, “revenue shortfall” that’s at issue, as said shortfall is resulting in across-the-board cuts to state agencies, $10 million of which is targeting the University of Maine system.
      The general point about university debt is well taken, as Ed Kazarian notes.

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    4. Andrew Johnson Avatar
      Andrew Johnson

      James Page, the Chancellor in referred to in the article, used to be a Philosophy professor. One of the best teachers I ever had.

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    5. dmf Avatar
      dmf

      any signs of faculty finally organizing some mass resistance to such trends?

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    6. Ed Kazarian Avatar
      Ed Kazarian

      To be honest, it’s somewhat unclear to me, at least, what faculty organizing can achieve by itself. We’re talking about the result of a decades long process of defunding happening in state legislatures, which has only accelerated in the post-2009 austerity environment. Faculty protests, as far as state legislators are concerned, are about as meaningful as teachers union protests at the primary and secondary school level — that is, not meaningful, since they simply provide an opportunity to bash the ‘greedy’ teachers who want money despite all the problems at their schools, etc. If we take primary and secondary stuff as a model, I’d say that any organizing is going to have to be much more broad based — and we have the additional problem, beyond what’s at stake in primary and secondary schools, that people are a lot less inclined to see the more or less local (or state) ‘public school’ as a service to ‘everyone’ when thinking about higher ed.
      But be that as it may, coalition has to involve both parents and students. I’d say employers too, but I think most of them like highly indebted workforces, alas.

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    7. Ed Kazarian Avatar
      Ed Kazarian

      Caveat to my last, it’s becoming at least somewhat clear that a lot of employers do want students with the kinds of critical thinking skills and broad liberal arts training that the current crop of super neo-liberalized university administrators are destroying in their RCM fueled fever dreams of a perfect revenue equation. Perhaps some of them can be convinced that they way to get the workforce they want is to have better funded public universities that allow people to study (and universities to continue offering) a somewhat less narrowly focused curriculum.

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