Louisiana Voice

When it comes to recession-proof employment, the best job in north Louisiana would appear to be a teaching position at one of Lincoln Parish’s two universities.

Between the two institutions, Tech and Grambling have over 200 teaching and support personnel knocking down $90,000 per year or more, according to information contained in the schools’ proposed budgets for 2010-2011.

Tech has 138 and GSU had 20 with salaries of $100,000 or more. Tech had 35 and GSU added eight more with salaries of between $90,000 and $100,000. Those numbers are exclusive of athletic department personnel, who added a few more to the totals at each school.

Over to the east, the University of Louisiana-Monroe had 40 positions listed in excess of $100,000 per year and 35 more between $90,000 and $100,000, the bulk of those in the School of Pharmacy.

Dan Reneau led the three university presidents with a salary of $350,000 and a car allowance of $7200 per year. Frank Pogue will be paid $200,000 at Grambling while his executive assistant will get $96,000. Reneau’s executive assistant is paid $113,220.

Stephen Richters, who assumed the presidency of ULM on Aug. 1, will draw a pro-rated salary of $166,267 based on a yearly salary of $252,886.

Enrollment figures for the three schools won’t be released until sometime in January, so overall budget requests, which are based in large part on enrollment and tuition, are speculative at best.

Tech’s total budget request is for $186.2 million, which is nearly $12 million more than last year’s budget of $174.5 million. Gov. Bobby Jindal has placed state universities on notice to prepare for further budget cuts of up to 35 percent.

Of the total budget request for Tech, nearly $41.1 million would be in state funds and another $45.7 would be in the form of student fees, including registration and tuition. The balance would come from interagency transfers and from self-generated revenue that would include endowments, grants, and non-resident fees.

Grambling is seeking a total budget of nearly $89.2 million, which would be about $270,000 less than last year. Of that amount, $18.2 million would be in state appropriations, $30.6 million in student fees, and $28.1 million in self-generated revenue.

As might be expected, Tech, with its quarter system, is the most expensive of the three schools but still far below the Southern and national averages in costs.

Tuition and registration at Tech is $1,213.25 per quarter for the fall, winter and spring quarters, for a total of $5,544 per year if a student does not attend summer school. University and student-assessed fees add another $634.75 for a total resident fee of $1,848 per quarter, not counting housing, meals and books.

ULM’s total resident fee is $2,317.65 per semester, or $4,635.30 total for the fall and spring semesters, while GSU’s resident fee is $2,214 per semester, or $4,428 for fall and spring semesters. Tuition and fees for all three schools is based on 12 or more semester credit hours (SCR).

Just in case you might be interested in what you’re paying for, here are the fees assessed by the university:

• Speech and Forensics Fee (Are they teaching how to speak CSI?);
• Alumni Support Fee (Shouldn’t alumni be supporting themselves, especially the Wyly brothers?);
• Student Center Fee;
• Student Newspaper Fee;
• Student Assistance Fee (Okay, so then if I need assistance, I have to pay?);
• Music Fee;
• Concert Fee (These aren’t the same?);
• Intramurals Fee;
• Academic Service Fee (I thought that was what tuition was);
• Assessment Fee (What?);
• Student Service Fee (I’d like an explanation, please);
• Student Government Fee;
• Student Union Board Fee (Someone please explain the difference between Student Government and Student Union Board);
• Student Recreation Facility Fee (Wouldn’t that be the same as Intramurals Fee?);
• Student Radio Station Fee;
• Student Library Fee;
• Student Accident Insurance;
• Technology Fee;
• Energy Surcharge;
Total University-assessed fee: $545.25 (based on 12 or more SCR);

• Student-assessed fees:
• Sports Club Fee (Again, wouldn’t that be the Intramurals Fee?);
• Health Fee (I’m just sayin’….);
• Parking/Campus Enhancement Fee (Parking? Are you kidding me?);
• Spirit Group Fee (What, pray tell, would this be?);
• Organization Development Fee (You’re putting me on, right?);
• Athletic Fee (So we can watch the Bulldogs get their teeth kicked in by Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M, LSU, et al?).

Total Student-Assessed Fees: $89.50 (based on 12 or more SCR).

Total fees (based on 12 or more SCR): $634.75 per quarter ($1,904.25 per year).

When I was a student at Tech, which admittedly was more than 40 years ago, I could go to school for an entire year on just one of today’s $634.75 quarterly fee assessments.

….And my first new car, right off the showroom floor, was $1600; gasoline was 30 cents per gallon, and I paid a whopping $11,000 for my first home–on a half-acre lot.