Union leaders lashed out at the Dye administration Tuesday after a special meeting of more than 150 members, held during the lunch hour in the West Lecture Hall of the Science Center. They stated that they had no input in Oberlin’s latest employment cutbacks.
Oberlin College’s Office and Professional Employees Union lost six positions, and two others were reduced to part time.
“Six positions were totally eliminated with people in them,” OCOPE Officer Diane Lee said Tuesday. “We have absolutely no input and they won’t discuss it with us ahead of time. They would not tell us what positions or people would be affected until [Monday] at 9 a.m.”
The College’s Human Resources Director Ruth Spencer fired back, saying that the union’s contract states that layoffs are “absolutely a management decision.”
She added that the College’s position was “clearly thought out.”
OCOPE lambasted the Human Resources department specifically, saying that the department has doubled in size since 1996. They assert that it has grown from four to eight positions.
The College’s Directory and Course Catalog, while not considered to be wholly accurate, do reflect this. The Finance Office has, in the past, refused to disclose the total number of positions in various departments.
The union also maintains that they delivered a proposal for how the College’s budget could be reduced in the spring, and that the College has not implemented any of their suggestions.
Officers attacked College President Dye personally. They said they were disappointed in President Dye for accepting a $100,000-a-year compensation package, which, they say, could have saved three of their members from losing their jobs. They also wonder why Dye needs a $323,000 annual salary when her house and other amenities are paid for by the College.
“She did not have to accept the bonus that she was given,” OCOPE President Julie Weir said. “That bonus could have saved three jobs.”
The union also felt that Dye enjoyed an unusually high standard of living in relation to their membership.
“She doesn’t have a house payment, she doesn’t have a car payment, she has a housekeeper,” Weir said. The average union salary, she said, is $28,000.
“People need to keep in mind,” Dye said Thursday, “Oberlin resorted to layoffs over a year over this retrenchment, and worked to minimize the number of layoffs through a disciplined hiring freeze in which we eliminated 67 positions through attrition.”
While it is true that President Dye’s home is owned by the College and she is not charged for it, the Board of Trustees mandates that she lives in the house.
President Dye is also expected to host College receptions regularly in her home.
Dye’s salary is not out of line with other peer schools, and is, in fact, less than most high-ranked liberal arts schools.
The most recent figures available for comparison are for fiscal year 2000.
In 2000, Vassar College President Frances Ferguson received $350,969 in total compensation. Vassar raked in $225 million in revenue that year, with $107 million in operating expenses, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Wesleyan University’s President, Douglas Bennett, received $275,433, and the schools’ revenue and expenses were $129 and $121 million respectively.
In that same year, Oberlin College President Nancy Dye received $277,930 in total compensation. Oberlin ran revenues of $213 million and expenses of $130 million.

President Dye’s total compensation rose to $323,000 this year, according to College Relations.

The Board of Trustees has also approved a $100,000 annual deferred compensation package, which is first available in 2007, for a lump sum of $600,000.
OCOPE positions were eliminated in Sponsored Programs, Community Affairs, the Dean of Studies, the Center for Information Technology, Development and Student Health.
Two other positions were reduced in hours in Development and in the library.