In a story titled "UTMB Sees a Reversal of Fortune" in the 12/25/09 on-line edition of the Houston Chronicle, a UTMB spokeswoman says that, eventually, UTMB will have about 1,000 more employees than it did before Hurricane Ike struck. Please see the excerpt below:
Although the UT Board of Regents authorized 3,800 layoffs, UTMB officials announced that about 3,000 jobs would be cut. The actual number turned out to be about 2,400, but it was widely interpreted as a step toward dismantling Texas' oldest medical school. The Legislature forced the regents to reverse policy, a stunning change of fortune that is slowly beginning to benefit the local economy.
UTMB has already filled more than half of the jobs left vacant by the layoffs and eventually will have nearly 1,000 more employees than before the storm, said Cindy Stanton, UTMB director of recruitment services.
First, please allow me to point out that the utterly false 2,400 number keeps turning up as a fact. Here is an e-mail from UTMB President Callender that says he was getting set to cut about 3,000 the DAY BEFORE he began wielding the knife. Because of this particular e-mail's historical importance, I'm including the complete text rather than simply an excerpt:
From: UTMB Broadcast Account
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:57:02 -0600
Conversation: A Special Message from the President
I realize that no amount of forewarning will make this message any easier for the UTMB community to receive.
Tomorrow, we will begin giving notice to approximately 3,000 faculty and staff whose positions are part of the reduction in force authorized by the University of Texas System Board of Regents [http://www.utsystem.edu/News/2008/BOR-Statement-UTMB-11-12-08.html]. We expect to complete the process Monday, November 24.
As you know, the damage the campus sustained in the wake of Ike has caused us to suspend or reduce a number of clinical programs, significantly diminishing our ability to generate revenue. This painful but necessary next step will reduce the workforce to the number needed to support an initial hospital configuration of 200 beds and to protect and preserve our education and research missions. It will affect individuals in every area and at every level of the organization, including agency and contract personnel and those who work overtime.
Senior leadership and managers have given considerable thought to the type of work needed to ensure UTMB’s success during this challenging recovery and transition period. They have identified the combination of skills needed to perform those critical tasks. And, when the number of positions exceeded the volume of available work, they based individual staffing decisions on criteria such as skill set, performance and service orientation.
Classified employees will receive 60 days’ notice with full salary and benefits, consistent with UTMB’s practice. Administrative and Professional employees will receive a minimum of 60 days’ notice with full salary and benefits. Non-tenured faculty will receive six months’ notice with full salary and benefits, and tenured and tenure-track faculty will receive notice with full salary and benefits through August 31, 2009, the end of the fiscal year.
Managers will make every effort to talk face-to-face with employees whose positions are affected. In the event this isn’t possible, managers will notify them via email, phone or letter.
We remain committed to doing everything we can to support those affected by this decision and will continue to provide access to the full range of job search resources – including job fairs; employment, financial and personal counseling; and classes on effective resume writing and interviewing – at our island and mainland help centers [http://www.utmb.edu/utmbemployeehelpcenter]. Classified and A&P employees will receive preference for open UTMB positions for up to one year from the date of their notice. UT System officials have asked that these employees receive priority consideration for positions at other UT institutions, and numerous area employers have expressed an active interest in interviewing and hiring UTMB employees. We also continue to explore options for employees who may be eligible for retirement.
The loss of so many dedicated professionals will be felt throughout the institution. I thank you all for serving UTMB so well for so many years, and for working tirelessly since Hurricane Ike to protect and preserve our core missions. I have faith that the spirit that has characterized UTMB for more than 100 years will help this great institution achieve the promise of a bright future.
Dr. David L. CallenderUTMB President
From the above e-mail, it is clear that UTMB officials had a precise idea of how many jobs they were going to cut the day before they started handing out pink slips: 3,000, not 2,450, a number that has acquired the status of unchallenged, anointed fact now. What I figure happened is that revisionist administrators decided not to count those they "encouraged" to retire or those who left for other reasons, never came back after the hurricane, etc; however, if a reporter were to pin them down and ask about the number of positions thrown overboard rather than people, I believe that number would shoot right back up to 3,000 or so.
Now, having scratched that irritating, historical itch, I'll turn my attention to the 127 RIF'd faculty, particularly tenured, RIF'd faculty, who have a much stronger claim to their old jobs than those RIF'd without tenure. If UTMB is not only hiring to its former strength but also hiring an additional 1,000 people eventually, it is reasonable to assume that some of those will be faculty. Will RIF'd faculty be reemployed by UTMB? Although I have heard that a RIF'd faculty member here and there got his or her job back, I expect all but a handful to be left out in the cold. Why? President Callender announced at a town meeting on March 26, 2009, that he had no plans to bring any of them back. I believe him. So do the unemployed faculty. Indeed, even as administrators were booting faculty out the door, they were hiring new faculty, as the The Scientist article titled "Texas School Hired While Firing" so pointedly highlighted. Hurricane Ike was simply the excuse for an attack on tenure and faculty members who had incurred the disfavor of their chairs or other administrators.
Despite the rosy picture painted by the Houston Chronicle, all this hiring holds out very little hope for RIF'd faculty.
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