Benefits reduction is an affront to faculty

As WSN reported today, NYU employee benefits are being cut in the continuing effort to trim the budget. Among the cuts is the total tuition remission promised to certain employees and their immediate family.

Starting next year, these individuals will have to cover 10 percent of their tuition cost, which used to be free. To add more fuel to the fire, there is a one-year waiting period until employees are eligible for remission benefits. For many, this may mean taking out a loan for some portion of tuition payments. Although these employees can take out loans, the interest payments incurred will only add to costs.

This move will obviously disgruntle NYU employees who are affected. Many of these staff members were told that they and their families would be able to attend NYU for free as a selling point of their employment. This rather abrupt change to the policy is a slap in the face to those that were promised this benefit and planned to rely on it in the near or distant future.

While no specific numbers have been released, we assume that the cut of the tuition benefit is a mere drop in the bucket of the massive budget overhaul. This negligible amount seems to be paltry justification for such a blatant offense to the university staff.

We acknowledge that, if this is to be a long-term policy, the university could save a lot over time. However, we fail to see reason for such immediate enactment of the measure. Perhaps it would be more amicable to enforce this policy only for employees who would be hired after the change is enacted and disclosed.

We appreciate that employees making less than $50,000 per year are exempt from the new rules, but this policy may still pose a substantial financial burden for those making more than that.

However, this could certainly compromise the university's continuing effort to attract distinguished faculty. With many of the nation's colleges and universities offering total remission, this may be a tipping point, especially among those with children at or nearing college age. The work of these employees directly impacts our experience as students. We hope that NYU will be more careful to consider how minor budget cuts may have a significant impact on the rest of the community.