Shaw Alumni Support Ceases In Greensboro

To Whomever Concerned;

The Greensboro Chapter of the Shaw University National Alumni Association wishes to express our dissatisfaction with the Board of Trustees and the Administrative Team of Shaw University. After careful and pain wrenching debate, we have decided to withhold all financial support and cease all fundraising efforts until matters are properly addressed by the above mentioned parties. Our decision is based on several key facts:

*The Administrative Team has repeatedly demonstrated it does not have the capacity to manage the day-to-day operations of the college. Very basic budgetary goals relating to the well being of our students and relating to the academic integrity of the college have not been fulfilled. Hence the brand known as ‘Shaw University’ has diminished to a point where the retention of students, the procurement of funds and the galvanization of alumni has become daunting at best.

*The Administrative Team has failed to communicate effectively to students, faculty/staff and alumni. Students were forced to resort to a very public and embarrassing act of civil disobedience recently in order to get the attention of the administration. This act could have been averted if lines of communications had been available. The faculty has expressed it’s displeasure with the Administrative Team but are muted in response because of fears of retaliation which could jeopardize their employment at the college. Alumni have long called for more openness from the Office of the President, but at this time it has not occurred.

*The Administrative Team has not put forth a strategic plan designed to address past, present and future financial issues confronting the college.

*The Administrative Team has failed to pursue and followed up on potential fundraising opportunities. Case History: Two years ago the Greensboro Chapter was approached by one of our most prominent local ministers who expressed a desire to make a sizeable contribution to Shaw University in his honor. Considering the potential size of this gift, we felt it should be handled directly by the Office of the President. This information was communicated to a Vice-President and we fully expected everything would have been done to secure the funds. Follow-up with the minister was done a year later and we were told that he had not heard a thing from Raleigh. We questioned the Vice-President about this matter and were told that it was no longer their concern because they had been fired. Sadly, this opportunity could be lost forever, and the Greensboro Chapter will not peruse it any further at this time.

*The Administrative Team had failed to ‘mine’ local Baptist churches for more support. The president should have made an appearance in large churches in every city and asked ministers to pass a plate in the name of Shaw University to help us through this financial crisis.

*The Administration has failed to properly police students accounts and has failed to collect unpaid debt from current students which has worsened the financial health of the college.

*The Administration has failed to monitor and expel students who damage university property. When I was there, Shaw would purchase a bus ticket just to be rid of you.

*The Administration has failed to monitor and to ensure all employees are executing the duties they were hired to perform. Often times we can’t even find people in their offices when we visit.

*The Administrative Team has accumulated a mounting debt that is used to cover the daily operating expenses of the University. It is one thing to buy a plasma tv on a credit card, but when you are using it to pay your monthly reoccurring expenses, -you have real financial problems.

*The CAPE sites are not adequately supported and in some cases have become an eyesore to their respective communities. The Greensboro Chapter has decided to divert monies we would normally send to Raleigh and use it to help spruce up the High Point campus.

Fiscal Irresponsibility Could Possibly Lead To Shaw's Demise

Six years ago, salaries to Shaw employees maintained  Shaw's infrastructure and commanded over 50% of our total budget. Today, major functions of our University are  outsourced to more than seventy companies. Non-competitive bidding has resulted in a number of costly vendors who  perform most major University services such as landscaping, building maintenance, copying, mowing, waste services, bookstore, postal services, food services, help desk, touring, credit cards and cell phone use for administrators, course management programs, management and public relations  consultants, networking, housekeeping, and payroll. 

Let us indicate one such example. The GuideStar report lists one of our largest contractors in 2004 as the Aramark  Corporation who provided Food Services to Shaw at a yearly  cost of $1,560,883. Today, with fewer students who offset  inflationary trends, Thompson Hospitality still commands  roughly $360,000 extra per year for food services.  Furthermore, outsourcing has plummeted Shaw's personnel  budget to around 30% while our infrastructure totters at the
precipice.
 
A loyal Shaw employee is concerned with the prosperity of  Shaw and will not tolerate other employees living in filth. An outsourced worker is only concerned about doing the least possible work required to complete the contracted job.  Our managers could have decided to curtail spending on such  massive wasteful outsourcing. In addition, they could have
eliminated pay disparities favoring top administrators and  their assistants. Demonstrating leadership, they also could have spent less on frivolous auxiliary endeavors and
allocated more resources to educational programs that truly  help students become "only the best." Instead, our managers are implementing the worst possible options for dedicated Shaw employees: reducing faculty and staff  salaries, eliminating their benefits, and outsourcing their services. Such ill-timed mandates might reduce our personnel budget by another two million dollars. However, undermining Shaw's employee base will cripple Shaw for decades, long after these managers have departed our great institution.

Are Shaw University Executive Salaries A Bit Excessive?

Dr. Clarence G Newsome, President

Mr. Martel Perry - Executive Vice President

In 2004, GuideStar.org did a comparative analysis of highest salaries of North Carolina private colleges and universities. This analysis can be found by clicking >>HERE<<. In 2004, GuideStar reported Shaw's highest paid employees were the President at $150,000 and our Executive Vice President at $100,500. Though not officially disclosed, Shaw's executive assistants and secretaries have salaries near these figures. Indeed, one position for a Shaw staff with only a bachelor's degree in an ancillary office was blatantly advertised recently for $65,000. Executive salaries clearly place Shaw in the top twenty-five private schools even after considering elitist or large private schools such as Wake Forest, Duke, Campbell, Meredith, and Elon University. Furthermore, some of our executives received a 33% raise or large bonuses early last year before consenting to a 10-15% pay cut as part of our cost reductions. Such financial "sacrifices" should hardly be considered earth-shattering.

Shaw's Faculty Salaries Near Bottom

During the early part of the decade, Shaw contributed  salary information to the Chronicle of Higher Education and  the American Association of University Professors. During  most of the intervening years faculty members received no pay raises. Indeed, Shaw's faculty salaries have increased only 4% during the last five years. When discipline and institutional averages are considered by rank, Shaw's faculty salaries rank near the bottom in North Carolina's private colleges and universities. However, one uplifting note can be found when several faculty members responded to Professor James Kirkley's courageous challenge for Shaw teachers
to publicly share their salary, rank, field and degree. Teachers are beginning to "hang together."
Shaw's education graduates can also be gratified they will not share their teacher's shame of a low salary by clicking the following link.

In a few short years, the students we train to teach  elementary school with a bachelor's degree will have  salaries that outstrip almost all of their teachers.