The Wichitan

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  • M

    Mary WilliamsOct 15, 2011 at 3:39 PM

    I read with dismay your article on wages paid by MSU. I understand that the wages of the top echelon may be of interest to the public. I understand that the levels of pay overall can be of interest to the public when compared to other universities, or private industry, or other locations. I understand that the total paid in wages may be of interest to the public as a matter of university budget, tax increase proposals or other related concerns.

    However, I am deeply offended that you would publish the individual wages of each staff and faculty member. I do not see how the specific wage of any particular individual below the leadership level is of public concern. It is particularly insensitive to those of us who are students who are married to staff – you’ve invaded the privacy of not only the staff, but the students who are part of their families. How can it possibly be in the public’s interest to know what each individual janitor earns? What each individual technician, food service, or administrative assistant earns?

    This is incredibly insensitive to the people who serve the students of this university. Salaries are always sensitive issues, and now you’ve made it possible for every staff member to be unnecessarily distracted by knowing what their peers are earning.

    You’ve just given an entire community the ability to make judgments about performance levels of each individual. And created an immense opportunity for anger among peers: how many are now going to say “I work just as hard as that guy and look at what he makes!” or “Look how much less Johnny is making than I am – he must have got a horrible performance review.”

    YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED!!

    Since you obviously don’t see this as any kind of violation of the families’ privacy, I demand that you publish the salaries of every member of your immediate family: father, mother, spouse, siblings, in-laws, etc. What? You don’t want to do that? The very reasons coursing through your mind right now are things you should have thought of when you published rank and file salaries of the staff and faculty. They are people with families and neighbors. You’ve violated their privacy. Don’t be surprised if you see a reduction in services from these professionals. You’ve earned it!

    Reply
    • J

      Jennifer COct 21, 2011 at 1:08 PM

      Why are you so upset about the paper listing public info concerning who makes what? You state that the article violates family privacy. Who are these family members trying to lie to? Are they trying to claim that they make more to impress someone or less to decieve companies that provide income-based services?
      I think it was a great idea to publish staff annual pay so that the audience that read the article were made aware of how little certain staff members make for their time on the clock. It might make the audience have more respect for those janitors, technicians, foodservice workers, and administrative assistants who make very little. Perhaps the reader will think twice before yelling at a secretary for no reason, or throwing thier trash on the floor, or failing to thank the people who put the food on their plates.
      As for creating competition, that is what fuels our society. Adults and professionals should be able to view this information in a constructive manner and use it to better themselves or create ways to improve the overall situation that they disagree with in the first place.
      I work in a job where I know I get paid less than someone who does less work than me, but I don’t let my job suffer because of that fact. Instead, I look for ways to improve my overall perfomance so that I can increase my wages. I don’t whine, complain, and cry about others making more than me. None of the faculty or staff of our university should whine, complain, or cry either.

      Reply
  • B

    BobOct 15, 2011 at 7:34 AM

    Nice info. I would have liked to see more analysis…and maybe some better proofreading. Some dollar amounts have typos and some job titles are misspelled. I don’t see what you are trying to prove listing everyone’s salary. I know it is public information, but to just do this is misusing that privilege in my view. Now you will get staff comparing salaries among themselves, likely leading to morale problems and probably some turnover when they see the same positions making more or less than them, when other factors contribute to that amount. Some staff will be surprised how little or much the people they deal with make, and affect their working relationship. That is why this type of information is normally kept private. You could have done something without listing individual names. It seems, that as with the Harvey House, you are just trying to bash the University rather than teach responsible journalism. Do you really want a tabloid reputation? Is that the field your students want to pursue? What are you really trying to accomplish by just reprinting information you receive from the university? Seems like you are wasting your and their time.

    On the other hand, how about some real analysis? Check out the duplicate last names and look for nepotism. Compare groups of salaries to similar positions at other universities. Many of the lower end salaries such as custodians seem very low to me, as do some of the financial ones, the ones with a very high responsibility of handling and accounting for money. Doesn’t that sound like something that would be interesting to see and maybe contribute something to society? How about doing some real journalism and reporting on meaningful issues?

    Reply
  • A

    AngelaOct 14, 2011 at 10:33 PM

    Great article. Too bad that when you work for colleges or even public schools that your salary is PUBLIC INFORMATION. My mom works for the school system and her salary is also PUBLIC INFORMATION and was published in local town newspaper. I’m sure you have some people upset, but this should be positive because it can encourage future college graduates to see employment with a university that seems to pay on the upper level, whereas in some areas they wish they could make this type of salary. So therefore, this should give the university an opportunity to hour the top notch employees which will provide students with the best education possible. Keep up the good work and don’t let negative opinions bring you down or discourage you from accomplishing your goals. In this filed some of the best are criticized for the articles they have written. For those who have negative comments, please understand that this again is PUBLIC INFORMATION, I mean how else could this information be published

    Reply
    • M

      Mary *Oct 15, 2011 at 3:49 PM

      I think you are sadly mistaken about the salery levels being encouraging. A nurse can make much more in the private sector than at MSU with a bachelors degree than our professors are making with a graduate degree. They love to teach that is why they stay. The technology support staff could work in a larger city and make twice what they make here but they stay for many personal reasons. As for what Dr. Rogers make it is below the average for a college this size. I agree with you more information could have been presented than just listing every salery be them listed correctly or not. I know from personal evidence that this article has already caused some issues in certain areas of the university amoung the staff and faculty. As before when they reported about the Harvey house, the paper is only reporting enough to upset people and cause trouble around the campus.

      Reply
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