Morale, Managerialism and Money
Just so you don’t think I’m the only member of academic staff at Maynooth University who is desperately worried about the management shenanigans going on here, I am reblogging this blog piece by Conrad Brunstrom.
I suggest you read the whole article, and urge you to sign the petition therein, but here is a sentence that leapt out at me:
The morale of a university suffers when a fissure opens up between those who teach and research and those who “manage”.
An additional negative effect on morale arises when one sees teaching loads increasing and departmental resources being cut at an institution that already has the highest student-staff ratio in Ireland, and the University’s only response is to create new managerial positions all over the place. Every euro spent on “managers” is money taken away from teaching and research. Just this week we saw this one and this one. The advertisements for these positions both include
Maynooth University, a place of research and learning for over 15,000 students and almost 1,300 staff, is one of the fastest growing third level institutions on the island of Ireland, with ambitious plans for the future of its campus. The University’s campus master plan envisions the expansion and enhancement of the university estate to host over 20,000 students in a vibrant learning environment, supporting world-class research, outstanding teaching and learning, and a vivid cultural and sporting life, in a rich, diverse, green and sustainable campus. The University not only envisions major developments in the physical facilities and infrastructure of the campus, but also significant changes in how it is operated and used.
I have no idea where the number 20,000 has come from, nor how the Maynooth campus is going to accommodate this number of students, as it is already bursting at the seams. An increase on this scale will require a huge uplift in numbers of teaching staff, if we are not to collapse under the burden. The only argument I can see is that we need to have more students so we can support the dead weight of bloated management, under which we will be required to struggle.
In the Dark 
August 10, 2023 at 3:00 pm
What is the salary associated with such senior management positions in Maynooth?
The University of Cambridge pays its employees an average of ₤38,128 a year.
At Cambridge, the salaries of the senior management are listed in the Reporter and range from £150,000 to £340,000 (excluding the Vice Chancellor).
Just in case you are worried that the senior managers are still a bit short, the Reporter helpfully reassures “The University does not have a specific policy on income derived from private consultancy. The University does not expect to be informed about remuneration from private work and consultancy.”
This is for 2019, the last year the data are available.
The argument for these high salaries is that the University is hiring “top talent”.
I personally have no problem with good salaries for truly excellent administrators. However, many of these individuals are at best very ordinary and at worst darned incompetent.
I agree that the morale of a university suffers when a fissure opens up between those who teach and research and those who “manage”.
And it is even worse when those who “manage” decide that they are worth between 4 and 8 times an average University employee salary.
August 10, 2023 at 3:03 pm
I like Conrad’s use of quotes in “manage”. I think mostly “manage” is a euphemism for “mess up”.
August 10, 2023 at 3:23 pm
“manage” means not just “mess up”, but “mess up and refuse to take any responsibility for the mess”
August 12, 2023 at 1:58 pm
P.S. I don’t know what the salaries are, but I suspect they won’t starve,,,
August 10, 2023 at 10:54 pm
I refuse to believe that united action by department/faculty heads could not do something about this nonsense. But you (they) have to act together and form a committee outside present structures to do so, then make a threat that forces the managers to engage with them.
August 11, 2023 at 11:58 am
” … then make a threat that forces the managers to engage with them.”
1. Threatening behaviour. Disciplinary offence.
2. Refusal to carry out a management instruction. Disciplinary offence.
3. Misconduct which disrupts the work of others. Disciplinary offence.
4. Bringing the University into disrepute. Probably a dismissal offence.
It would need “united action” from almost all to work. In practice, senior managers can just ignore even quite a large (but not unanimous) protest. They hold all the cards.
It is worth looking at the sub-postmaster scandal to see how long senior management can hold out.
It was obvious to many people very early on that the Fujitsu software was crappy, but senior managers, HR & legal at the Post Office just ignored the obvious for years, while prosecuting lots of innocent people.
An extreme case.
But, it is easy for such bubbles to emerge, in which senior managers & HR/legal officers view what they are doing as “right” for the institution, while the complainants are viewed as “troublemakers”, who are bringing the institution into disrepute and need to be ignored or dealt with.
August 12, 2023 at 7:41 am
With that attitude, you’ve already lost.
Department/Faculty heads united can do it. Uncoordinated action by a few professors scattered across different departments can’t.
As soon as your opponents realise what you are doing, they will escalate. You have to be ready for that. If you aren’t, best keep doing what they say.
Gene Sharp’s booklet “From dictatorship to democracy” is a handbook explaining the principles of peaceable civil disobedience. It powered the Arab Spring. They had to be ready to be shot; you don’t. Sharp’s book is adaptable. What you do need, though, is the unwavering support of your department head.
August 14, 2023 at 10:48 am
The latest development at Maynooth is that Members of the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) have threatened to withdraw from all committees unless the plan is dropped.
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20230811082807930
August 14, 2023 at 10:57 am
That’s a start.
August 14, 2023 at 11:26 am
Mind you, I can think of quite a few people whose absence from committees would make them work much better!