It is a time of great uncertainty.  But what is certain is that college administrators in Wisconsin and around the country will be constructing narratives of extreme financial hardship - and backing them up with numbers. 

This article from Inside Higher Education provides a fantastic lesson to faculty and staff:  when it comes to college finances, don't take your administrator's word as gospel.

As Inside Higher Education reports, numerous faculty unions across the country are taking a hard look at college budgets to determine whether administrative pronouncements match financial reality.  Several faculty unions have gone so far as to contract with third-party auditors to examine college financial statements.  These auditors have frequently dug up facts that contradict administrators' gloomy public statements.

The following advice from Lillian Taiz, president of the California Faculty Association, seem particularly instructive:

When administrators are pressed to defend cuts even at times when they're constructing buildings or engaging in other expensive activities, they frequently note that much of the money that comes into university coffers is designated for specific purposes and can't be spent on just anything. Faculty don’t dispute that there are some funds that are truly restricted, including certain grants and donations, Taiz said. What an independent analysis often shows, however, is that funds that are designated as “restricted” by administrators have merely been earmarked for a specific priority that may or may not have the backing of faculty during a budget crisis, Taiz said.

“The more you accept [administrators’] explanations of things, you really are put in a box,” said Taiz, a history professor at California State University at Los Angeles. “You can’t debate because they’ll say ‘Oh that [money is] restricted; it’s out of our hands.’ I don’t know how many times I've heard that – ‘It can’t be helped’ – as if the gods were deciding.”

With the 2010-11 college budget cycle right around the corner, technical college faculty and staff need to be prepared to tell their story. That means analyzing the college's financial condition and making a case for faculty and staff priorities.  

Make no mistake, this type of work is involved and time-consuming.  But it is critically important in maintaining faculty and staff priorities.  

A great first step is to assemble a small budget working group that can dig into financial statements and budget documents.  Accounting/Finance faculty and support staff from the college's business services division would be perfect for this type of work group.

Additional support is available from union staff.