Life’s a pitch
Waffle Time
Ithaca Avengers form family after recently celebrating their inaugural season, page 23
Thursday Apr il 2 9 , 2 0 1 0
wind down
Two alumni satisfy late-night cravings by opening waffle café, page 13
Survey shows students concerned by lack of lounges, page 10
The Ithacan
The economic Working-class students struggle to fit in among wealthy peers
divide
by jacqueline palochko News editor
Bobby Allyn left his small bluecollar town of Plymouth in northeast Pennsylvania to attend Ithaca College in fall 2006. His high school guidance counselor told him that with his father’s income as a machinist and the cost of a private institution, Ithaca might not have been the best fiscal choice for him. But his father did not want to hear that and insisted that his son become the first in the family to receive a college degree. By second semester, Allyn said he couldn’t find a social niche. Though he said he did meet other students from working-class backgrounds, the majority of students he met were from lifestyles he never experienced — students who grew up in affluent suburbs reading the New York Times and vacationing in Europe, a significant difference from the local community newspaper he read and the Photo illustration by colleen lowery and andrew buraczenski
See economy, page 4
Professors paid below national average senior writer
Assistant professors at Ithaca College are making as much as $7,000 less on average than the national average for faculty of their level. A study released by the Chronicle of Higher Education on April 16 found that about 60 percent of the nation’s assistant professors are paid more than assistant professors at the college. On average, full and associate professors make close to the national averages of $91,508 and $71,857, respectively. Mark Coldren, associate vice president of human resources, said pay varies widely among faculty. He said professors, unlike college staff members who are paid in salary bands with definite ranges, earn different amounts based on school size, the college’s definitions of titles such as “associate” and “assistant” professor — titles with meanings that often vary by school — and on local costs of living, which are lower in Ithaca than in metropolitan locations. “If we have somebody that’s called a ‘groundsperson’ and that’s a job that 20 people hold and it’s similar, they’ll all have the same
job description and they’ll all be in the same band,” Coldren said. “They might be doing different things, but it’s all within that job description. The hard part is on the faculty side — we don’t necessarily have a faculty job description. They could teach a lot of different things.” Coldren said determining the actual meaning of the $7,000 salary difference for assistant professors at the college is nearly impossible. “If you want to make some kind of conclusion that says Ithaca College associate professors make, oh, $70,000 a year, you’re going to have a wide range there,” Coldren said. “What you have are some averages, and you can draw some conclusions if you want to, but I don’t know how I can compare that.” Kathleen Rountree, provost and vice president of academic affairs, said the college’s salaries are neither strong nor particularly weak compared to the national average. “I’m not sure being in the middle of the pack is a bad place to be,” Rountree said. “Some of the schools that are higher have different programmatic mixes. If a [college] has a law school, for example, their salaries are going to look higher because they have
those high law school salaries to bring them up.” Coldren said the college hasn’t had many problems hiring lecturers or adjunct professors for lower-paying positions. “There’s usually discussion — if they have different salary expectations, they might say, ‘Hey, that’s too low,’ and walk away,” Coldren said. “But mostly, we’re able to identify lecturers or course-bycourse instructors. I’m not go-
ing to say it’s easy, but it’s done pretty straightforwardly.” Interim Business Dean Mark Cordano said the college is in a “micromarket,” or small setting in which potential faculty members who cannot find a job at Cornell will come to Ithaca College looking for work. “Cornell’s been downsizing because of what they’ve been running into as a budget crunch, so that means
See Salary, page 4
Average Faculty Salaries 2009-10 91,508
U.S. Masters’ Institutions
90,700
Salary (in dollars)
by clara eisinger
Ithaca College
71,857
71,700 63,801 56,780
53,500 48,572
Full Professor
Associate Professor
Assistant Professor
Instructor
design by colleen lowery Sources: Chronicle of higher education and carl sgrecci
find more. online. www.theithacan.org
I t h a c a , N . Y.
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Music school dean named interim provost by Aaron edwards news editor
Gregory Woodward, current dean of the School of Music, has been named interim provost of Ithaca College. The announcement comes just two weeks after President Tom Rochon announced current provost Kathleen Rountree would re- woodward sign from her said he is preposition to pared to serve as take up a fac- interim provost. ulty post in the School of Music. Woodward’s responsibilities as interim provost will begin June 1, according to an Intercom announcement released Monday by Rochon. “I’m really eager to get at it,” Woodward said. “[There’s] a pretty big plate full of stuff to do in a short time as well as keeping the general workings of the provost office moving forward.” Woodward has been dean of the School of Music since 2008 and previously served as dean of the Division of Graduate and Professional Studies, a position that Rochon said better prepares Woodward for the tasks ahead. “[Woodward] knows music education inside and out, but he also knows a lot about the other kinds of education that occur on campus,” Rochon said. In his temporary provost position, Woodward said he will focus on specific projects like reevaluating the college’s IC2 integrated curriculum, assessing student learning and overseeing general education requirement changes. Once Woodward steps up to serve as interim provost, a search will begin for an interim music dean and full-time provost. When the provost is selected, Rochon said Woodward will most likely return to being music dean. “It’s going to be a very busy year for the interim provost,” Rochon said. “Not one in which he’s simply asked to hold the fort until the next regular provost arrived.” Keith Kaiser, interim associate dean of the School of Music, said plans are moving forward to find an interim dean for the School of Music. “Conversations are under way, and there are a lot of terrific individuals,” he said. “Whether [Woodward] ends up being fulltime provost or coming back to the School of Music, we’ll all benefit from his work.”