Loyola faculty are reportedly suffering with low wages and an overload of work, according to their advocacy group.
Patricia Boyett, a history professor and the president of the Loyola University New Orleans Chapter of the American Association of University Professors is fighting for Loyola faculty to receive fair compensation by enacting motions and rallying professors. These professors express that their wages are unlivable and with them Boyett said she could “never imagine retiring.”
In 2012, Loyola went through a financial crisis and had to cut retirement significantly for faculty according to Boyett. She said that the faculty that chose to stay through this time was promised to receive raises and get back their full retirement of 8% once Loyola was able to “rebuild”. She said that the faculty has held up their end of the bargain, but the Loyola administration has not.
“The administration that promised this, they are gone. But this new administration has inherited a bargain that was promised, and they need to deliver on it,” Boyett said.
While the faculty is set to receive a 2.5% percent raise overall in August and has a 2% percent retirement matching contribution, they are still being grossly underpaid according to Boyett.
Boyett spoke about feeling frustrated with the hypocrisy of Loyola being a Jesuit institution with justice at its core but, at the same time, mistreating its staff. She said that some Loyola faculty are paid in the lowest percentile compared to others, similar universities, while the administration is paid in the top percentile.
“All this time where we were asked to sacrifice and not get raises, they are getting salaries at the top percentile of like institutions,” she said.
Desiree Rodriguez, President Cole’s chief of staff, said that they want to have open dialogue about faculty compensation and are grateful to all of their staff for their dedication.
“Compensation remains a priority within Loyola’s Strategic Plan, and we are committed to making continued, incremental progress,” Rodriguez said.
Boyett also spoke about the small steps forward that have been taken by the current administration and expressed gratitude to Loyola President Xavier Cole for the bonuses that were given to professors that have been here for over 10 years.
“I think maybe [the current administration] feels like ‘we are trying to do something; why are you angry at us,’ but I want them to understand that we’ve been suffering for so many years and through so many broken promises,” Boyett said.
When Tania Tetlow was president of the University, the Women’s Center asked if they could do an equity study on the salaries at Loyola, according to Boyett. While Tetlow agreed to the study, Boyett said Loyola decided to hire a firm to conduct the study and then did not release it to the faculty.
When asked by the Maroon whether or not they plan to release this study in the future Rodriguez responded saying that university leadership has since changed and they do not have access to the study.
“Given this, we believe it is most appropriate to conduct a current assessment using internal resources. We will share updates with the faculty and staff as that process moves forward,” she said.
Boyett recently introduced a motion on behalf of AAUP to release the equity study as well as a motion to do full faculty disclosures. By its own governing documents, Loyola has committed to shared governance, meaning that while administration implements the final policies, they are determined in coordination with the faculty.
“There were a few people opposed to it, but I mean, the vast majority of the college voted in favor of releasing both of these. And the administration still said no. To me that’s saying that they’re not interested in shared governance,” she said.
Boyett added that many Loyola professors have stayed despite the low wages because of the students and their commitments to social justice, although she feels like the treatment the faculty receive is not in line with those values.
“When we stand up for ourselves, we are told that we are a Jesuit institution so we must sacrifice,” Boyett said. ”It’s heartbreaking because I love the mission here. It’s one of the reasons I took the job, ‘cause I love the social justice concept, and I love the Loyola community.”
AAUP restarted the Loyola chapter after suffering for years with poor compensation and a feeling of shared governance diminishing, as well as a response to the Trump Administration’s attacks on higher education, according to Boyett.
“We considered it vital to restart the chapter to respond to the recent attacks on academics across the nation by political leaders,” Boyett said. “ We are deeply frustrated with the corporalization of higher education in general that has led to an expansion of administrators to receive large salaries and bonuses.”
Boyett spoke about the matter at this year’s Labor Spring, an event organized by Cody Melcher, a sociology professor at Loyola who wants students to understand unions.
“The Labor Springs is designed to tell students about the history of the labor movement because it’s generally neglected,” Melcher said.
Em Bay, a junior sociology major at Loyola, said it is important to learn about unions in Louisiana because we are a right-to-work state.
“So you can be fired for absolutely any reason, which should not be allowed. But the importance of unions is respect for workers; honestly, we are incredibly exploited,” Bay said.
They went on to say that they hope this event helps prepare students to enter the workforce.
“It’s so important for students to understand that we’re going into this big workforce, and we are going to be exploited. But it’s not just something you have to live with,” Bay said. “There’s actual change we can do. We don’t have to be working 80 hour weeks with no f—ing breaks and killing ourselves for it.”
