Posted on 01/13/2024 1:04:36 PM PST by george76
DEI commitment includes a recent $17 million faculty initiative, ‘identity centers,’ and more
Vanderbilt University employs more than one full-time administrator for every two students
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the private Nashville university employed 3,516 full-time administrators and support staff, according to information the school filed with the federal Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.
Administrators and support staff include management, student and academic affairs divisions, IT, public relations, administrative support, maintenance, legal, and other non-academic departments.
In 2022, Vanderbilt’s reported full-time undergraduate student enrollment was 6,983. That amounts to 517 full-time administrators and support staff per 1,000 undergrads, or more than one for every two students.
Vanderbilt employed 1,149 teaching and instructional staff in 2021-22, meaning it offered 164 educators for every 1000 students.
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The bloated staff has been a major cause of skyrocketing tuition and student debt,
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there is an ongoing trend to spend more on administrators and less on teaching students.”
“Colleges shouldn’t be wasting money on highly paid administrators whose jobs have little to nothing to do with whether a student will get a good education and a good job upon graduating
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Northwestern University also employs more than one administrator for every two undergraduates, including several new DEI staff in its sports program.
Even more, an analysis conducted by The Fix in December on Youngstown State University in Ohio found that the ratio of administrators to students grew more than 13 percent over the past four years, even as full-time undergraduate enrollment fell almost 16 percent.
In its hiring, funding and self-promotion, Vanderbilt shows a strong commitment to DEI principles.
“Our commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) is woven into the very fabric of our work, our community, and our mission,” its website states.
In July, The Fix reported that Vanderbilt had launched a $17 million faculty DEI initiative to advance diversity.
The initiative, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, aims to “accelerate diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in the biomedical research community,” according to an announcement from the VUMC Reporter, the in-house publication of the medical school’s media team.
Vanderbilt’s “Equity, Diversity and Inclusion” staff website lists four “identity centers,” such as the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center and the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Life, and 23 staff positions.
Over the 2021-22 academic year, EDI leaders developed a “comprehensive strategic plan” with six impact areas, according to its 2021-22 “Report for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.”
Under the header “Belonging,” Vanderbilt listed the cultivation of “identity initiatives,” which it defines as “research hubs and support networks for institutionally under-resourced and marginalized communities” at the university.
Vanderbilt lists eight such “initiatives,” including AAPA for those identifying as Asian American and Pacific Islander, PersistVU for low-income students, and SomosVU for “Latinx/Hispanic people.”
Vanderbilt sponsors “Graduate Recognition Ceremonies” separated by identity group,
Louisiana University of Louisiana at Monroe.
Circa 1966 the administration offices were one floor of 4 wings. (I suffered greatly in that building) in the chemistry building. I would guess about 25 offices. The Student population was 7,000. Today it is about 10,000.
Today they have their own administration building of three floors of which each floor is easily 4 times the size of the old administration floor space. Part of the building is also used for classes. It would be conservative to say the administration has expanded 4 times faster than the student enrollment.
Tuition has expanded at an equal rate. I was lucky as I got my degrees in Geology and Pharmacy before education went mad. I was given a good education there.
The headline is “administrators” while the copy and math is about total employees. The story also only counts full-time undergrad students, when Vanderbilt has several graduate schools and a lot of part-time students — the true student count being over 12,000 or double what the story counts. 1:4 would be a more accurate ratio of employees-to-students. I have no idea what an acceptable ratio is, but the story is way off.
How many foreign students are paying full tuition in an attempt to immigrate to the United States?
Where Vandy gets off with this pricing is because Vandy BA = assured entrance into Vandy Law School or Vandy Medical School.
One of those classic double-double private schools that indebt you for 250K and set you on the course for maybe 80K a year to start if you were a "B" student and know the secret handshake, meaning you already bought a house and start paying for it the day they hand you your JD.
Hell, a double-double at Notre Dame is no different, maybe you start in Chiraq for 125K instead, but the cost-of-living plus entry-level housing which leads to a brutal commute f you over from day one.
Remember when the Vandy students used to chant whenever they were getting pummeled by another SEC team, “Beat us today, work for us, tomorrow!”
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