Rider's AAUP Chapter 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
For updates on the negotiations, click 2020 NEGOTIATIONS in the menu
A Message from AAUP Executive Committee
May 15, 2020

We wanted to provide some context and perspective to recent announcements and decisions by Rider's administration and the board of trustees.

While we are keenly aware of the global pandemic which affects our learning community, we are nevertheless committed to seeking fair compensation for our members and for ensuring that the university provides a safe and suitable learning environment for faculty and students in all of the university’s programs...  Read more here
Rider's Bond Rating Reduced to Junk Status
4/22/20

Moody's downgraded Rider's bond rating once again. See news coverage here. 

In response, Rider AAUP's Vice President, Art Taylor, wrote a  letter to the Rider News, which you can read here. He concludes, "The downgrade is a powerful public statement that Rider’s senior administration and board of trustees must stop the excessive spending on unnecessary building projects, end the disruptive actions which continue to impact enrollment (and revenue) and begin to run the institution with some degree of financial pragmatism."

Back in 2017, we sent this Open Letter to the Board of Trustees to specifically caution against the very actions which have placed Rider in its current financial predicament.
The 5-Year Impact of President Dell'Omo's Policies
3/6/20

​Last week we shared with you the impact of five years of Greg Dell'Omo's policies on your pocketbook. This week we want to look at how Dell'Omo’s policies have dramatically shifted Rider's priorities away from the University's core mission—teaching and learning. 

● In 2013 Rider reported that it had 81 full-time managerial employees by 2018 that had grown to 117, a 45% increase. At that time there were four Vice Presidents, today there are nine, a 125% increase. 

● In 2013 Rider had 247 full-time faculty members by 2019 there were only 199 full-time faculty, a 20% decline. 

● In 2013, there were 3 full-time faculty members for each managerial employee, by 2018 there were only 1.7 full-time faculty members for each managerial employee. 

● In 2015 full-time faculty compensation (salary and benefits) was 22% of Rider's operating expenses, by 2019 that had shrunk to only 17.7%. 

We believe the top priority of a University should be to attract and retain the best faculty and students and make it possible for their relationship to thrive. Clearly the Dell’Omo administration has a different view. It is time for us to reassert the centrality of teaching and learning. 

Your Negotiating Team
What Has Happened to your Compensation?
2/29/20
  
​We all know that the faculty as a group and each and every one of us has taken an economic hit since Greg Dell'Omo became President. While the specific impact on any individual will vary, we think it is essential that we realize the magnitude of the economic damage done to the faculty over that time. There are any number of ways to measure that impact so we in this email look at the loss in earning for an average faculty member over that time period. 

If in 2013, your base salary was $100,000 (the approximate average base salary of the bargaining unit in 2013) excluding any promotion increases: 

* your base salary today is still $100,000

* inflation has effectively reduced that to $89,000 

* you have earned almost $30,000 less than you would have if you had received raises that kept up with the low rate of inflation.

* if you had received the average increases for continuing faculty across the country your salary today would be $121,000.

* you have spent an additional $8,400 on medical insurance premiums.

* you have spent an additional $7,500 to maintain the same level of total contributions to your retirement account.

Conclusion: you are $45,000 poorer.  

We are committed to not only stopping this erosion of our financial health but reversing it. 
​
Your AAUP Negotiating Team
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.
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.