On July 1st, the Administration of Molloy College announced that on August 1st it intends to terminate its contributions to its non-union employee pension plans. Since Molloy makes a contribution that is nearly double the amount employees contribute, this will effectively cut contributions to the pension plan for affected employees by around two-thirds. A little more than 70% of employees eligible to participate in the plan do so. Many of our employees have chosen to work here in part because of this perk, and this change will force many employees to rethink their retirement plans.

These employees are also going without a cost-of-living-adjustment, which means they are effectively taking a pay cut as well. And this is after two decades of helping to generate millions of dollars in surplus funds for the college not just through teaching, but through research, community outreach, recruitment, and a host of other activities, and it is our understanding that these surpluses were folded into the college's endowment. Moreover, the new President of the college has recently appeared on the local affiliates of all four networks to boast that right now we are just 2-3% off our enrollment goals, and he predicted that we will make up the difference by September.

There was never a hint that any change to our pension plan was even being considered, let alone such a drastic one. What's worse is that the Vice President for Finance and Treasurer (VPFT) signed an amendment to our pension plan on June 19th to make the employer contributions discretionary, effective July 1st. This proves that the decision had been made without any warning or discussion with the majority of those most affected by this change. The Financial Resources Committee, which is responsible for exploring issues like this one, did not meet to carry out its charge.

The Administration observes that they, too, will go without these contributions to their own pensions. But this hardly feels like commiseration when they earn significantly more than the highest paid full professor and at least triple that of a junior faculty member, and this is to say nothing of how their salaries compare to lower ranking administrators, staff, and others whose labor is essential for the rest of us to carry out our work. 

Again, this decision was made without following the process explicitly described in governance documents like the Faculty Handbook which states:

"It is understood that changes in policies and contractual obligations as well as benefits and privileges as stated in the Faculty Handbook shall only become effective at the beginning of the new contract year. Any proposed changes shall be presented to the Faculty Council at least thirty (30) days prior to a Board’s vote. The Faculty Council, in consultation with the teaching faculty, shall have the opportunity to make recommendations concerning the proposed changes and have these recommendations considered by the Board of Trustees." (pg. 8)

On July 6th, the Vice President of Academic Affairs and the VPFT held a meeting with the entire faculty, not Faculty Council, to explain the proposed change. They gave the impression that the decision has been made and that it is non-negotiable. They informed us that the Board of Trustees will vote to approve this proposal on July 30th, despite the fact that it is only 24 days after the proposal was presented to faculty. 

The purpose of this petition is to try to change their minds. We must insist that the Board of Trustees abide by the procedures described in governance documents like the Faculty Handbook and give serious consideration to the recommendations that are forthcoming through the Faculty, Staff, and Administrator's Councils. We therefore implore the Board to consider the following actions:

• Require the Administration of Molloy College to formally present its case to these Councils at least 30 days before voting on the proposal;
• Require the Administration to provide relevant financial information to Faculty Council in order for faculty to make recommendations to be given serious consideration by the Board before it votes;
• Require the Administration to include the faculty and all other constituent groups in the decision-making processes so that we can all work together for the future of our college. 

We understand that these are difficult times and that sacrifices will need to be made. We are simply asking for fairness and transparency. The Mission Statement claims that Molloy College operates in the Dominican tradition. One of the four pillars that the college promotes is Community. But how can we teach our students to take this seriously when the Administration and the Board of Trustees treat so many people whose labor produces the sense of community on our campus with such callous indifference? We have just witnessed the students call out the Administration on its failure to address the systemic racism on campus, which demonstrates that our students are watching to see if what we do aligns with what we say. They will not give us a pass if we claim good intentions or invoke a Catholic tradition as self-evident justification for questionable actions. We hope the Board of Trustees will insist that the actions of the Administration match the values it professes going forward.