I remember how it was -- JR
Working in Higher Ed Sucks. Here’s Why I Left
Lately, I’ve been hearing an increasing number of “I quit” anecdotes from friends working as administrative staff at universities. I worked in this space until recently, so I feel little surprise. But I do feel sympathy because most of them have been systematically underpaid and overworked for years.
Frankly, higher ed deserves a Great Resignation. And it may be coming sooner than its leaders realize.
I still vividly remember the struggle so many are experiencing. After graduating with a master’s degree, I worked in a major university’s dean of students office from 2014 to 2016, a role that regularly demanded 60-hour weeks. I was on the front lines, dealing with student issues, including the student stress and depression that pervaded such a high-achieving academic environment. For this, I was paid about $30,000 a year with meager benefits.
The reason I endured this for so long—and why many others do too—was the belief that I was working for a higher calling: namely, the betterment of students’ college experiences and subsequent careers. Colleges consistently inculcate this idea of a higher “mission” to appeal to administrative staff, getting them to accept pay and hours that would be unacceptable elsewhere.
Ultimately, my employer’s talk about its mission didn’t put dinner on my table.
If colleges walked the walk and were genuinely mission-focused, things might be different. But in reality, they operate no differently from for-profit corporations, paying top dollar to those in leadership positions while underpaying junior staff, and preferring to focus on generating revenue.
According to a 2019–2020 survey by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, academic advisors nationally make less than $50,000 a year on average, including those with master's degrees. Comparatively, the national average for master's degree holders is just over $70,000.
Meanwhile, the prospects of advancing to more senior, better-paid roles are remote. It can take decades to qualify for a vice president or dean role, where salaries start to enter six-figure territory.
University administrators should have moved to address these issues long ago, but the prevailing attitude has been to do things the way they’ve always been done. After all, the old way has delivered handsome profits and comfortable life for those at the top.
It’s unlikely to work much longer, though. I’ve lost count of the number of friends in higher ed who’ve told me in recent months they’re leaving or considering leaving their jobs because they feel undervalued. A potential perfect storm is brewing for colleges, as employees come out of the pandemic with a new perspective on their work-life balance and the opportunity to do something about it.
If college leadership teams are smart, they will start implementing fundamental changes before the resignation trickle turns into a flood.
The first thing they should do is to drop the empty “mission” rhetoric, at least when it comes to persuading staff to work longer and harder for some nebulous greater good. Then, they should implement more equitable wage structures that put administrative workers on par with equivalent workers in other sectors.
It’s not all about the money. The Great Resignation has taught us that workers are placing more value on flexible work arrangements and comprehensive benefits, including training and development opportunities. College leaders have generally dragged their heels on allowing remote work, probably because they have so much invested in the physical infrastructure of the college campus. But if they want to retain people, they need to recognize that many employees now see hybrid work as crucial.
Colleges should also go beyond the standard health benefits they offer and think more innovatively about how to attract and retain employees in this environment. Millennials and Gen Z workers want their jobs to have meaning and enrich their lives. Universities should respond by offering healthy professional development allowances, perks such as student loan payment assistance, and even a chance to share in institutions’ often substantial equity.
When I found a new career after leaving higher ed, I felt the relief that comes from leaving a toxic relationship. Many more will be following my footsteps unless colleges start to mend their ways. University leaders can’t rely on their “mission” anymore to justify low pay and overwork for administrative staff.
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Teachers in Conservative States Are Volunteering to Carry Guns
The Republican-led Texas legislature is addressing the twin issues of school safety and mass violence following the May 24 Uvalde, Texas, school shooting. Committees of lawmakers are reviewing past legislative efforts, such as the Guardian and Marshal programs that allow teachers to carry firearms in the hopes of hardening schools as targets. School officials and firearm trainers in the Lone Star State say interest has risen sharply since the recent shooting.
Jeff Sellers owns Schools on Target, a company in Marble Falls, Texas, that trains teachers to carry firearms in schools. Since the school shooting, Sellers told The Epoch Times that he has added nine additional classes—double the amount customarily held—for June through August.
“I’ve gotten an insane amount of calls,” Sellers said. “It hasn’t stopped. Ninety percent is because of Uvalde.”
Bryan Proctor, owner of Go Strapped Firearms Training in Arlington, Texas, told The Epoch Times much the same thing—that training requests for the Guardian program have skyrocketed.
“We’ve had about a 100 percent increase,” Proctor said. “It’s been pretty dramatic. I’ve sent out over 20 proposals in the past week.”
Proctor said teachers want to protect their students and themselves, despite what people may be hearing form the select voices in legacy media.
“What you’re seeing is a vocal minority,” Proctor said. Arming teachers isn’t about giving them something else to be responsible for—but instead giving them a tool as a last defense.
Elsewhere, state legislatures are investigating how to make schools safer and arm teachers.
Louisiana is currently looking at legislation similar to Texas, allowing teachers to carry guns in schools after receiving specialized training. Ohio’s latest bill aims to be less restrictive than the current law, mandating 700 hours of police training and board approval before allowing teachers to be armed.
Republican governors Bill Lee of Tennessee and Ron DeSantis of Florida took action on school security this week. Lee signed an executive order June 6 to ensure working safety protocols at schools, and to evaluate training for active shooter scenarios. DeSantis signed a school safety bill into law on June 7 that focused on crisis intervention and training, and mental health awareness.
Meanwhile, teacher unions have nixed the idea and portrayed arming teachers as unpopular with educators. A 2018 Gallup poll found that 73 percent of teachers oppose the idea.
Meanwhile, policies to arm teachers in some form has widespread participation throughout the country amid the horror of gunmen targeting schools for mass shootings. The RAND Corporation reported in 2020 that 28 states permit armed teachers under some circumstances, while states such as Texas and Florida have passed laws encouraging the practice.
In North Florida, one principal at a private Christian school said he would like to see the program expanded to include private schools. The principal, who didn’t wish to be identified, said he added chain-link fencing around his school’s 40-acre perimeter and allowed just one-way traffic onto the campus, except during drop-off and pick-up times.
Now, cameras monitor doors into buildings, and access is controlled remotely or with special key fobs. Classrooms stay locked throughout the day. But it’s not enough anymore, he said.
He asked for training under Florida’s school guardian program to protect his school’s 340 students, ranging from toddlers to high school seniors. He was denied because the program doesn’t extend to private schools.
Currently, it is open to employees of public schools or charter schools who volunteer to serve as guardians and their official job duties. To qualify, they must pass psychological and drug screenings, and complete a 144-hour training course.
Sheriff’s offices in 45 of Florida’s 67 counties participate and receive funding to cover screening and training costs. And guardians receive a one-time bonus of $500 for serving in the program. Schools in districts can arrange to send employees for certification.
So the principal is now training on his own to become a licensed, armed security guard.
“It’s the only option,” he said. “Even before this last school shooting, I said, ‘I’ve got to go get this taken care of.’ So we’re doing it the right way.”
About a decade ago, Texas lawmakers created the school Marshal program, as a way for educators to carry weapons inside schools, and later initiated the Guardian program.
Under the Marshal program, school employees can carry a handgun on school premises after 80 hours of training. However, school marshals are restricted from carrying concealed firearms if they are regularly in contact with students. Instead, the marshal can store a gun in a safe at the school. There are 62 school districts participating in this plan, according to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.
Gretchen Grigsby, director of government relations with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, told The Epoch Times that 30 new students and nine new school districts have signed up for the Marshal program since the Uvalde shooting.
The Guardian program authorizes school boards to arm employees under the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act and the Texas Penal Code. After completing 16 hours of training, those employees may carry a concealed firearm in the presence of students. According to the Texas Association of School Boards, 389 districts reported using the Guardian plan as of May.
While Democrats are calling for gun control, people like Sellers reiterate that the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Sellers told The Epoch Times that the first few minutes of an active shooter situation are critical, and arming teachers could save lives.
“In active shooting incidents, time is everything,” Sellers said. “No gun control law is going to stop evil from conducting evil acts.”
Madalyn Maresh is an assistant superintendent at the Edna Independent School District, a rural 3A district northeast of Victoria, Texas. She told The Epoch Times that her district reopened the application process for the Guardian program at her school in response to the Uvalde shooting.
“The day I reopened it, I got two applications immediately,” she said. In the three years since the program has been operational, she gets between 3 to 10 volunteers per year. Without guns for protection, teachers are forced to use their own bodies to shield students from an active shooter, she said.
“You’ve got to find what fits your community. We got zero push back on it—our community embraces it,” Maresh said.
Kyle Collier, police chief for City View ISD in Wichita Falls, Texas, said an additional four or five teachers volunteered after the Uvalde shooting.
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NC man pays off entire student loan of $28K — 'Cannot describe how happy'
For nearly two decades, Bruce Paulson, a digital marketing expert, toiled to pay off his student loan debt in the amount of nearly $28,000.
"It took me 19 1/2 years to pay it all off," he told Fox News Digital about his accomplishment.
Though that's a long stretch of time, he also noted, "If I hadn't made the extra payments toward the principal those first few years, it would have taken much longer."
Based in North Carolina, Paulson, 42, recently received confirmation from Navient, the financial services company that managed his loan, that he had paid off his student loan debt in full.
"I cannot describe how happy I was," he said. "I never thought the day would come when I actually paid back all the money I owed plus interest."
In addition to making extra payments early on, Paulson credits the auto-payment plan for his success in completely ridding himself of debt.
He said he set that up shortly after graduating in 2002 from Appalachian State University, set amid the storied Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.
Over time, though, whittling down his student loan became more of a challenge for him, he said.
"Eventually my loan got sold to another bank and their website was not as easy to use. It got harder," he said, "to pay extra toward the principal."
"With Navient," he added, "I just left the auto payments [plan] on" and continued getting rid of his debt bit by bit that way, he said.
Navient, the Delaware-based company that services and collects student loans, clarified to Fox News Digital that borrowers, using its online portal, "can make additional payments toward the principal when paying extra payments."
In search of independence and financial freedom, Paulson said he pursued a variety of jobs over the years.
One of those included selling wine in Napa Valley — but he struggled to get by, especially early on, when all he yearned to do was to snow ski.
"I had zero dollars when I graduated from college, and I could not wrap my head around owing almost $30K."
"My goal in life was to ski big mountains," he said.
Saddled by that student debt loan, he said he put that dream on hold.
He also "began to wonder why I just spent four years in school and had a huge amount of money to pay back, and I had no idea how," Paulson explained.
"I did not have any skills that the job market valued," he said. "I had zero dollars when I graduated from college, and I could not wrap my head around owing almost $30K. It made me nervous to even think about it."
Paulson’s candid view of college runs counter to the prevailing narrative among many today that higher education is vital for success.
After a slog of career setbacks, Paulson eventually founded Determined Solutions in 2015. The company specializes in search engine optimization — and glowing client testimonials abound on his firm’s website (DeterminedSolutions.com).
"The market, for the most part, does not value college. No client I have ever had cared that I went to college. They never even asked."
"I am currently in the best place I’ve been with my business, and I just keep getting more and more opportunities. And that is really awesome," he said.
Paulson’s unorthodox outlook on college offers a cautionary tale for those leery of incurring student loan debt.
"The market, for the most part, does not value college," said Paulson. "No client I have ever had cared that I went to college. They never even asked. They only cared about how I could help them. And that is the reality of life."
Even with a bachelor's of science degree in business administration, Paulson said that nothing he learned in college was pertinent to the real world or to running a business for him.
"Going to college and getting student loans was the biggest financial mistake I've ever made," he said bluntly.
"Taking responsibility for my error and finally paying it off has been great for me."
"But since I did it when I was young, I accepted that it was my mistake and my responsibility to fix it," he said.
"That helped me tremendously throughout my life. Taking responsibility for my error and finally paying it off has been great for me," he said.
Paulson said he never considered defaulting on his student loan. "I didn't even know it was possible," he said.
He said he was "super broke for many years — and I lived in a tiny studio apartment in Lake Tahoe, making $8 an hour. I ate canned food and Ramen noodles," he said of his time in Nevada.
"The only person who could break and devalue my word was myself — and I was not going do that."
He added, "All a person really has in this life is their word. I might have been broke, but I still had my word, which to me has a lot of value."
"The only person who could break and devalue my word was myself — and I was not going do that."
With his student loan now paid in full, Paulson continues to have mixed feelings. Does he regret going to college?
"Yes and no," he replied. "College was not the right choice for me."
"It was a mistake," he also said. "But I learned from it. I am kind of hardheaded. I must make mistakes to learn."
"I will be able to navigate adverse economic conditions much better than the average person."
Paulson added, "By living within my means and having zero debt [now], I have a level of freedom that most people I know do not have. I will be able to navigate adverse economic conditions much better than the average person."
Paulson also made these key points: "If the government forgives someone's student loans, or reallocates a person's student loan liability to someone else, then the person who took out the loan will not learn from their mistake. What is the consequence of that?"
"The person will likely make even bigger mistakes in the future. Plus the person will be breaking their word."
"I do not see," he also said, "how a situation like that sets someone up for future success."
https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/nc-man-pays-student-loan-happy
***********************************My other blogs: Main ones below
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
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