Star-Ledger Guest Columnist, Kathryn Neal
The search for the next Rutgers University president is underway. There is only one problem: 13,000 unionized staff have been shut out of the 23-member search committee. Executives from Rutgers governing boards and management have 10 seats; faculty have 11; and students have two. The exclusion is deliberate and part of a long-term pattern of Rutgers management disregarding staff.
Management is claiming that the two vice-presidents on the committee represent staff. That is incorrect. According to state law (New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act), as managerial executives, they do not represent bargaining-unit employees. They formulate and direct management policies and practices, and so they represent the employer, along with governing board officials. Rutgers executives are equivalent to corporate CEOs and vice-presidents, in effect, the Company Boss.
Finance Vice President John Michael Gower and Academic Vice President Barbara Lee preside over 15 to 25 high-ranking executives. They both earn six-figure salaries like the rest of senior management— deans, directors, chancellors, and provosts. None of them are front-line, department-level staff.
For more about the top-heavy, unnecessary layers of Rutgers executives with bloated and exorbitant salaries, go to: Rutgers organizational charts. Ask yourself this question when looking at the charts: What, exactly, do these people do? These executives receive annual bonuses in the tens of thousands of dollars. To see more, go to: Rutgers handed out $5.5 million in ‘incentive’ bonuses last year. Here’s who got the fattest checks. — NJ.com
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