Presenting an unprecedently detailed analysis of our University’s finances, Professor Howard Bunsis pronounced the U of I and our campus on a sound financial footing at a public forum on December 1.  He noted in particular the University’s continued high rating by Moody’s, the increasing revenues and enrolments and the positive rebound of the University’s investments after the 2008 dip. However, he did highlight worrying trends, especially  the rising costs of administrative salaries relative to funds spent directly on the core missions of research and teaching. He also noted a rapid decline in the number of tenured academic posts, a low general salary level for academic faculty and the threats to pensions as major areas of concern. Throughout his presentation he  stressed the need for faculty to engage in collective bargaining in order to halt these trends. The talk was sponsored by CFA, the AAUP and the American Federation of Teachers.

Download Howard Bunsis’ interview on WILL’s Focus 580 program, from Friday Dec 9, by clicking here. The slides from Professor Bunsis’s presentation are available as a .pdf file here.