Rider's Chapter of the AAUP is committed to preserving the
legacy and future of Westminster Choir College.
For up to date information on our efforts to save WCC,
​click here: SAVING WCC
Press Release: Chinese Company Out as Buyer of Legendary Music School

Rider University's Effort to Sell Westminster Choir College to a For-profit Company Fails

AAUP Welcomes Development but Warns Against Proposal to Move WCC to Main Campus

Click the title to read the full statement.
Kaiwen is Gone!
6/30/19

Posted this morning at a Kaiwen news site is the attached announcement of a Kaiwen Education Board vote, on June 28, 2019, to terminate the Purchase and Sale Agreement with Rider University.

We have posted in full the Google Translate version of the announcement, and have placed in boldface some of the most relevant text. 

Click the title for the link.
Kaiwen Education Reply to a June 2019 Inquiry
from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange
6/29/19

Since the Fall of 2018 Beijing Kaiwen DexinEducation Technology Co., Ltd. (Kaiwen Education)has received at least three inquiries, with questions to answer, from China’s security regulators, each expressing on behalf of key company stakeholders – shareholders, employees, lenders, suppliers, families – concern about the company’s continuing and significant unprofitability. In the spring we published a report on the second of these.
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Here, we report on the most recent inquiry, this one received by Kaiwen on June 3 from the “Management Department of the Small and Medium-sized Board Company” of China’s Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SMBC). 

To read the our analysis, click the title.
Update on Kaiwen Education's Financial Status​
6/24/19

Kaiwen remains a start-up company in precarious financial condition, with a very uncertain future. For these reasons, and for many others we have discussed, this company remains a significantly unsuitable owner and operator of Westminster Choir College​....

​To read the full report, click the title.
By Federal Reserve Standards Kaiwen Education is a Highly Leveraged and Risky Business
5/20/19

The more and more we look at the financial situation of Kaiwen, which Rider University President Greg Dell’Omo believes is in good financial shape to buy Westminster Choir College, the more we find that Kaiwen is in horrible, horrible financial shape.

Read our latest analysis of Kaiwen’s financial condition that concludes that Kaiwen Education is a Highly Leveraged and Risky Business
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To read the full articles, click on the headline.
Two Updates on Kaiwen's Finances
5/6/19

Here are two recent updates on Kaiwen's finances. Kaiwen, the for-profit company that Rider University President Greg Dell'Omo believes can "give [Westminster Choir College] a better future than we can give them,” isn't doing well. At all. 

"In 2018, Kevin Education achieved a revenue of 242 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 61.01%; the net profit was -979.542 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 521.14%."

"The data shows that in 2013, Kevin Education's net profit began to decline, and has been struggling on the loss line for several years... In the first year of its transition to pure education business (2018), the company's net profit turned into a loss, and the [2018 annual report] was not optimistic."

​To read the full articles, click on the headline.
Due Diligence and Kaiwen Education
4/29/19

We have posted a new report on how Kaiwen was portrayed in 2017 when this firm was selected as a potential buyer. The facts included convey only some of the financial vulnerabilities and other shortcomings of Kaiwen Education as a potential owner of WCC in 2017 – a remarkable and unsuitable choice by Greg Dell'Omo and the Board of Trustees given the criteria that were to be used to select a new owner. In short, Kaiwen today remains a company in precarious financial condition, facing significant competition and adjusting its business strategy to remain a going concern.

​Click the title to read the report.
WCC Reset Anniversary 
4/8/19

Following a meeting THIRTEEN months ago — on March 1, 2018 — Rider AAUP Chief Grievance Officer Jeff Halpern, then-AAUP-President Scheiber, and Assistant Grievance Officer Joel Phillips sent this report to all faculty. In it we discussed the need for a “reset” of the process begun by Dell’Omo and the Board with regard to the disposition of Westminster. Following the March 27 letter from the Attorney General, we believe these points remain as relevant now as then.

Click the title for the document.
​New Jersey Attorney General’s Office Delivers Major Setback to Rider University’s Plan to Sell Westminster Choir College
3/28/19

Late last night the AAUP received a copy of the letter Acting Attorney General Jennifer Davenport and her team provided Judge Paul Innes of the Chancery Division of the New Jersey Superior Court in connection with the Westminster Foundation’s lawsuit that seeks to stop Rider University from selling Westminster Choir College.

Though the 35-page letter's language is measured and professional, it is clear the AG was frustrated by Rider’s failure to provide or attempts to conceal information relevant to her investigation. In fact, Rider’s reluctance to comply with her requests prevented the AG from obtaining enough information to render an opinion to the Chancery Court at this time. Instead, because her investigation raised many additional concerns, on March 22 the AG required Rider to answer an additional 45 questions. Once Rider complies in full with her request, the AG expects to issue an opinion within two to three months.

​Click the title to read our press release and the Attorney General's statement. 
​Read the Purchase and Sale Agreement between Rider University and the proposed buyer of WCC
​3/25/19

Click the title for the PDF.
Faculty Shocked to Learn Secret Agreement Would Allow Buyer to Close Westminster Choir College
3/25/19

Rider University Misled Courts and Stakeholders by Withholding Key Provision Of Purchase and Sale Agreement
 
Union Urges AG to Block Sale of Legendary Music School

Click title to read our press release
2019 Report on Kaiwen Education
3/5/19
 
This paper reports on important recent developments at Beijing Kaiwen Dexin Education Technology Co., Ltd. (Kaiwen Education), using information from a variety of resources including the company’s response to a second request for information from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), a request prompted by Kaiwen’s desire to sell additional shares of company stock....  Click the title to access the report.

​Click here for the Press Release
Deja Vu Dell'Omo
​2/8/19

In a meeting with members of the Rider AAUP executive committee, President Dell’Omo accused Rider’s faculty of ‘hiding in their classrooms’ while he does the hard work of 'saving the institution' from financial ruin.

He is wrong on both accounts...  Click "Deja Vu Dell'Omo" to read more
AAUP Leadership: More on the New Hiring Procedures
Jeff Halpern
​11/29/18

Rider AAUP outlines its position on the unilateral hiring procedures instituted by the administraiton. For more information, click the headline.
 AAUP Calls on New Jersey Pols to Intervene in Dispute over Fate of Westminster Choir College In light of Renewed Concern over Academic Freedom and Jobs

AAUP Points to Kean University’s Plan to Transition its China-based Campus Faculty to Direct Employ of Chinese Government.... 

For copies of the letter and supporting documentation, click the headline
Consequences of Accepting What is Untrue!
Micheal Brogan, Rider AAUP President                                            
​October 27, 2018

In the 2017 contract negotiations, we took several hits. There are changes to retirement, increases in individual healthcare premiums, compression of wages over time, loss of travel funds (which have been reinstated but at lower amount), and a loss of summer research funding (there has been a reinstatement of online grants at lower amount than prior fellowships). Since then we have lost junior and mid-career faculty who have left Rider since 2015 (27 faculty members) and then there is the so called 'Sale' of WCC.

In terms of the retirement impact here's what we know. Nationally, the employer contribution to retirement is 7.7% at the 25th percentile and 11.8% at the 75th percentile (source: AAUP annual compensation survey 2017-18). So, what is the impact of the retirement changes from 8.5% employer contribution to 5% mean for Rider faculty? 

An assistant professor making the rank minimum (assuming an age of 40 and a promotion from assistant II to full), will take a first year loss of -$2,534 with the change from 8.5% to 5%. That loss over 30 years (at age 70) is-$113,486. To make this up, you would need to work an additional 15 years.

An associate professor making the rank minimum (assuming an age of 46 and a promotion to full), will take a first year loss of -$3,112 with the change from 8.5% to 5%. That loss over 24 years (at age 70) is -$98,983. The number of years needed to make up difference in terms of drop in Rider contributions: ~13 years.

A full professor with a salary around $120K (assuming an age of 60) will take a first year loss of -$4,200 in the change from 8.5% to 5%. The loss over 10 years (at age 70) is -$44,951. The number of years needed to make up difference in terms of drop in Rider contributions: ~7 years.

Per Rider's IRS financial documents, over the past ten years, total compensation for "Compensation of current officers, directors, trustees, and key employees" increased by 48%. During the same time period, total salary and benefits for faculty and chairs increased by 5.4%

President Dell'Omo has said faculty are paid above market, but members of his cabinet are not (to justify raises and counter offers). On a student FTE basis, President Dell'Omo is the second highest paid in NJ--he beats Princeton and Rutgers for the honor! This is why I believe Dell'Omo has got to go.
Our Fight to Save WCC is Featured in Inside Higher Ed
October 15, 2018

"A Chinese company that until January went by the name Jiangsu Zhongtai Bridge Steel Structure Company plans to purchase a nonprofit American music college. What could go wrong? Plenty, argue faculty members, donors and alumni who oppose Rider University’s plans to sell the Westminster Choir College....."

www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/10/15/chinese-companies-seek-buy-american-campuses
The 150 page document explaining Rider's 2017 bond has been posted for all to see.

Click here to read/download the document
Discouraged, Disheartened, & Dismayed
by Elizabeth Scheiber

Throughout the fall semester, I've had the opportunity to talk to faculty and staff from across the university, and the message I have received repeatedly is our community feels discouraged, disheartened, and even angry. Many have expressed their dismay at the sale of Westminster. These personal reports echo the statistics the AAUP collected in a survey during the summer. At that time, 84.5% of all faculty and 88% of full-time faculty were dissatisfied with the direction of the university. Add to that the numbers that show a disconnect between what faculty value and what they think the university values, the picture becomes clear. While nearly all of full-time faculty think the three areas teaching, research and value are vital parts of their job (98%, 94% and 97% respectively), they did not think the administration valued it: 75% think the administration does not value research, 64% think it does not value faculty teaching, and 62% think it does not appreciate faculty value activities. No doubt due to that disconnect, 69% of full-time and 61% of part-time faculty said they were considering leaving.
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While the administration may not appreciate all of the hard work we do, we know what we all contribute, and we need to support one another. To that end, we honored faculty who have served on an APC and/or the Promotion and Tenure committee at our November meeting. In the spring, we will celebrate faculty scholarship.

In addition to preparing these appreciation events, the executive committee has been looking at ways we can show how important faculty contributions are to the institution. Come to meetings, check the website, keep you eye out for our communications to find out ways you can let administration know how important your work is.
Governance Standards in Institutional Mergers and Acquisitions
by Elizabeth Scheiber

The statement that follows is excerpted from a longer draft statement, On Institutional Mergers and Acquisitions, which was prepared by a joint subcommittee of the Association’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure and the Committee on College and University Governance (Committee T) and approved for publication by the parent committees and by the Association’s Council in November 1981...