| Remember when university officials at both Auburn and Alabama rebuffed the PACT board's requests for tuition assistance? Their excuse was quite legitimate: legislative funding cuts have left them strapped for funds and requiring steep tuition hikes for students. But Huntsville Times reporter, Bob Lowry, (whose PACT reporting has made him one of my favorite Alabama journalists) seems to have uncovered another issue: Auburn University officials and trustees' jet-setting ways have cost the university almost half a million dollars during the 2008-08 fiscal year. Auburn University spent nearly $500,000 flying its administrators and board of trustee members on its two corporate jets during the past fiscal year, records show. The University of Alabama spent considerably less during the same period - $30,500 - for flights on its lone jet, and trustees rarely were aboard.
Lowry's article contains a full page of flight logs from both Alabama and Auburn. Perusing them last night, I was blown away by some of the descriptions, destinations, and charges. For instance, on October 9, 2007, Auburn University spent $4747 to fly "unidentified passengers" to Tunica, MS. TUNICA? For what? Perhaps this is the new funding strategy for Auburn's development staff. Maybe the slots and craps tables look like more of a sure thing than the Alabama legislature. But darn, couldn't they at least have done their gambling in Alabama? Almost as entertaining as the descriptions of the flights is the explanation by Auburn spokesman, Mike Clardy, for the numerous private flights instead of commercial: Clardy said it's more practical for the university to use its own jets even though commercial travel through the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is less than 90 minutes from Auburn and the Montgomery Regional Airport is only an hour away. He noted that traveling through Atlanta also involves a time zone change.
"...involves a time zone change." Remember kids: this is a major university in the United States. More examples on the flip.... |
Note that in the Fall of 2007, Auburn's average undergraduate annual tuition and fees was about $5800. hmmm... a scholarship student could have attended school for almost a whole year on what the University spent on a jaunt to Tunica. Here are a couple more: | Date | Destination | Charge | Commercial Cost or Mileage | Savings | | 10/15/2007 | Houston (4 people, including wives of President Gogue & trustee Blackwell) | $6,985 | $1,485 | $5,500 | | 4/2008 | Hilton Head, SC (2 trips for Trustee Ginn, wife & son) | $6,388 | $1,570 | $4,818 | | 12/2007 | Teterboro, NJ | $30,744 | $3720 | $27,024 | | 3 trips | State College, PA | $51,188 | $8200 (first class) | $42,988 | | 14 trips | Birmingham | $27,756 | $2,310 (300 miles round trip at .55/mile) | $25,446 | | 11 trips | Mobile | $40,646 | $2,725 (450 miles round trip at .55/mile) | $37,921 | | 5 trips | Huntsville | $11,560 | $1375 (500 miles round trip at .55/mile) | $10,185 | | | | | Total: | $153,882 | The savings here is enough to pay tuition for approximately 25 students for a year. And good heavens, there are dozens of flights not listed in this little table! Note the particulars on some of these: - Flight to Teterboro, NJ was so University personnel could attend the College of Human Sciences annual Quality of Life awards in New York City.Hmmm... wouldn't you think they'd have known about this well in advance and been able to get good commercial flight prices? The log doesn't say how many people spent a week in New York City at this event, so I estimated 12 traveling from Montgomery to LaGuardia.
- Hilton Head flights: Since Trustee Ginn was traveling to Auburn for just 2 days, I calculated that he could have left his family in Hilton Head. The commercial flight charge is for him alone.
- Trips to State College, PA appear to have been recruitment trips for the now-VP for Research John Mason and his wife. True, State College, PA is in the middle of nowhere, but $50,000 for three trips? Don't you think Auburn could have explained that "hey, we can spend $50 grand to fly you down, or spend a fraction of that and save the rest for research funding. Whadya say, John? Commercial work for you?"
- Mobile Flights: One of these flights is for Gogue's wife to attend "The Queen's Luncheon" on Mardi Gras. University business?
- Speaking of Queens... One of the Birmingham flights (May 16, 2008) was to pick up Mrs. Gouge in Birmingham after she flew in from Albuquerque. University business?
There were at least 3 trips where President Gogue traveled to DC on the plane ALONE - at a cost of about $9500/trip. That's $28,500. Commercial airfare from Montgomery to Washington, DC is $482. Compare the $28,500 to $1446 - but not on a full stomach. There are numerous other lobbying trips to Washington, DC that I didn't calculate, but each cost over $9,000. It's an HOUR to the Montgomery airport. Why can't these people fly commercial on regularly scheduled trips? It's hard for me to believe that most of these were short-notice, emergency events. And why can't these $%$# trustees drive to board meetings like everyone else? I've served on many local and several statewide boards. Nobody has ever offered to fly me anywhere or covered any expenses other than lunch. Surely there are people willing to serve on these boards who don't expect to live like European royalty as they serve! Garbage like this just makes it more difficult for higher education insitutions to plead their case with the Legislature and with the citizens of Alabama. It looks like Auburn at least is crying wolf about their financial woes. If they can spend half a million each year on private flights, one wonders what else is going on down on the Plains that could be eliminated before tuition rises and positions are cut. One of the reasons (other than a stupid investment policy) that the Alabama PACT program is in trouble is because of skyrocketing tuition at Alabama and Auburn's main campuses. I'm sympathetic: I've seen how much higher education has been cut to protect K-12. But it appears to this PACT parent that while Auburn poormouths about funding on the one hand, the President, his wife, trustees, their spouses, and God knows who else are living the high life at 5,000 feet. |
