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UCLA professor says he's homeless due to low pay

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Re: UCLA professor says he's homeless due to low pay

#91

Post by david38 »

serf wrote: post #83
thierrydamiba wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not exactly sure that’s how the world works…

less educators produce less educated, that's absolutely how it works. the incentives, the logistics and finances of how we get to a point like that -- well that's where it gets muddier.

No it isn’t. You’re implying education = higher standard of living, more jobs. It doesn’t.

One man can make a video lesson and teach millions, so more educators doesn’t mean more educated.

You can change the teacher:student ratio and still improve the number of educated. If you think this is false, then anything beyond 1:1 tutors is bad. Yet UCLA doesn’t operate on 1:1 ratios.

Finally, what makes you think there will be less educators? Very likely UCLA can rely on the rich and nerdy people who are willing to subsidize their own careers. This already happens in many fields.

Really finally, this is a shit practice. I’d like to see an audit of where the money goes such that the most student focused educators become last in line to get paid.

Re: UCLA professor says he's homeless due to low pay

#92

Post by codekisser »

tzs wrote: post #87

Maybe universities should provide housing for the lower paid teaching staff. In the case of UCLA they have on-campus housing and nearby UCLA-owned apartments for about 13000 people. Let's say they expanded that by 5%. That would be housing for 650 people. They have around 5500 faculty members and 31000 staff members (although both of these numbers vary quite a bit from source to source), but many of the faculty are i…

My university's dorms suffered from no AC, black mold, cockroaches, and yearly floods. I couldn't imagine if teachers and TAs had to live in such slums in addition to being given such inadequate pay. Providing housing is just treating a symptom - universities should fix this by paying their staff enough so they can even afford rent.

Re: UCLA professor says he's homeless due to low pay

#93

Post by Ekaros »

avg_dev wrote: post #8
delichon wrote: post #7

This is a physicist who could likely make much more in the private sector. That's a compromise I've had to make too. I spend my weekdays doing work that I have little interest in and has less chance of improving the human condition, but it let me buy a house and pay the taxes and fees. If I instead choose to do what I'm interested in I'd be lucky to afford renting a room in someone else's house. I admire the guy for…

Of course you are correct, nobody is ever promised anything like the ability to fulfill their dreams or to live a decent quality of life. But maybe the universities could pay them a living wage for teaching six classes a week.

Supply and demand, the pay would increase if there was no one willing to take the job. Maybe gig workers and fast food workers and everyone else also should be paid living wage... I think they are lot more deserving and necessary than people working in universities.

Re: UCLA professor says he's homeless due to low pay

#95

Post by dekhn »

rdudek wrote: post #56

Wonder how much UCLA administrators get paid compared to faculty?

All of UC's pay is online at https://ucannualwage.ucop.edu/wage/ If you search for administrator (although dean might be a better term?) you will see folks like the head of the Hammer Musuem, which is affiliated with UCLA, makes gross $437K. Her job title is Academic Administrator VII (the highest level in that job type). Similarly, the Dean for UC Extension (basically a night-school for UC) makes a similar salary. Other Academic Administrator VII make "much less"- all the way down to $26K or even $0.

As an anecdote, let me explain how the game is played. I had two different postdoc advisors at Berkeley. Both were tenure-track professors with good publication records. The first one negotiated her own startup package (starting professors get lab money and lab space to get started) and ended up with a small collection of rooms (3) on a crowded floor, with terrible IT infra. She eventually convinced the facilities manager to give her an IT room (nothing quite like watching your advisor waggle her body to get space) and eventually got tenure- 12 years after starting. The second advisor brought a lawyer to his negotiation and secured a full lab space with promises of more, a $1+M startup fund, and a number of other key concessions; he got tenure in 5 more years. The first professor said it was "unseemly" that the second professor had brought a negotiator- but the reality is that the Deans who act as the university representative are quite knowledgeable and seek to bring on faculty for the lowest prices, while paying themselves the excess.

Re: UCLA professor says he's homeless due to low pay

#96

Post by HPsquared »

serf wrote: post #83
thierrydamiba wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not exactly sure that’s how the world works…

less educators produce less educated, that's absolutely how it works. the incentives, the logistics and finances of how we get to a point like that -- well that's where it gets muddier.

It's possible to devote too much time and energy to education, i.e. diminishing returns.

Academia is, in essence, a multi-level marketing scheme that produces more of itself, and will (if given unlimited resources from other areas of society) expand until it takes all resources simply replicating more of itself.

Many poor countries have enormously bloated education sectors.

Re: UCLA professor says he's homeless due to low pay

#97

Post by Volundr »

david38 wrote: post #91
serf wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

less educators produce less educated, that's absolutely how it works. the incentives, the logistics and finances of how we get to a point like that -- well that's where it gets muddier.

No it isn’t. You’re implying education = higher standard of living, more jobs. It doesn’t. One man can make a video lesson and teach millions, so more educators doesn’t mean more educated. You can change the teacher:student ratio and still improve the number of educated. If you think this is false, then anything beyond 1:1 tutors is bad. Yet UCLA doesn’t operate on 1:1 ratios. Finally, what makes you think there will…

> You can change the teacher:student ratio and still improve the number of educated. If you think this is false, then anything beyond 1:1 tutors is bad.

A here does not imply B. If it did then the natural conclusion is that the world only needs one singular educator.

In reality there's a sliding scale where more students to a given educator results in lower quality education, but a greater number of educated. The art is balancing these concerns.

Re: UCLA professor says he's homeless due to low pay

#98

Post by Volundr »

Ekaros wrote: post #93
avg_dev wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course you are correct, nobody is ever promised anything like the ability to fulfill their dreams or to live a decent quality of life. But maybe the universities could pay them a living wage for teaching six classes a week.

Supply and demand, the pay would increase if there was no one willing to take the job. Maybe gig workers and fast food workers and everyone else also should be paid living wage... I think they are lot more deserving and necessary than people working in universities.

> Maybe gig workers and fast food workers and everyone else also should be paid living wage...

I think you'll find that there's a lot of overlap in the group of people who think this guy should be paid more and those who want more pay for the people you named.

> I think they are lot more deserving and necessary than people working in universities.

I'm not sure I'm prepared to cosign on the idea that the guy saving me a trip to pick up my own dinner is producing the same value as the guy educating the next generation of physicts.

Re: UCLA professor says he's homeless due to low pay

#99

Post by mistersquid »

rconti wrote: post #73
SoftTalker wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, lecturer is a low level academic position, using the word "professor" to describe him is inaccurate, even though he has a Ph.D. If he is teaching one class, it likely isn't even a full-time position. Academics are also typically paid a 10-month salary (the "academic year" he mentions), if they teach summer classes that is separate "summer pay." At research universities, part of a professor's salary is also funde…

It’s in the article. 6 classes a year, so presumably a 3/3.

> It’s in the article. 6 classes a year, so presumably a 3/3.

UCLA is on a quarter system, so maybe 2/2/2.

Re: UCLA professor says he's homeless due to low pay

#100

Post by charlieyu1 »

switch007 wrote: post #6

(Brit here). I'm not saying it's a huge salary at all but $70k is around $4500/mo after tax. If his rent was $2500, that leaves $2000 for everything else, which doesn't seem to equal homeless? Paycheck to paycheck probably I guess. What am I missing?

2500 per month of rent is 30k per year. 70k is just a bit more than twice of that. In UK he won’t even pass credit checks for renting
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