Who is Better at Math?: Lloyd or Pauline?

By Pauline Greenhill with thanks to Michael Hohner for research support

At the meeting of UWFA members on March 30, to which Administration representatives were invited, Lloyd Axworthy presented some interesting figures about faculty and administration numbers.  For anyone who didn’t manage to squeeze into the room (the largest one we could obtain for the meeting), here are just a few questions that arose.  We know, as Barbie said, that “math is hard,” but judge for yourself.

Problem One

Pauline said:

The administration of the University, based on its own charts, has grown from 35 individuals/offices (not counting the Chancellor) in 2004 to 53 individuals/offices in 2009.  Here are the charts:

2004 Chart http://uwfa.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/jan-2004-vol-4.pdf (scroll to the bottom)

2009 Chart http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/index/cms-filesystem-action?file=pdfs/admin/organizational-chart.pdf

That’s a 51.42% increase in the number of administrators. 

The number of UWFA Members (including Collegiate Members) in 2004 was 257.  The number now is 303.  The Admin has grown by 51.42%.  The faculty has grown by 17.89%.

Lloyd said:

There’s been a reduction of the proportion of admin to faculty. 

Pauline replied:

The ratio of UWFA Members (including Collegiate Members) to admin in 2004 was 1 for every 7.25 members.  The ratio is now 1 admin for every 5.72 comparable Members.  This is not a reduction in the proportion of admin!

Who is better at math, Lloyd, or Pauline?

Problem Two

Also during the meeting, Lloyd said that the number of tenured faculty had increased.  (We note that that figure has nothing to do with administrative numbers or budgets—tenure does not confer a pay raise.)  As we recall, he said it had gone from around 232 to around 265 tenured faculty members.  He characterised it as an increase of over 25%.  Actually it’s an increase of 14% from 2004, or 12% of the 2009 numbers.

Who is better at math, Lloyd, or Pauline?

At the meeting, Lloyd said he’d send us the numbers to support his contention.  As of press time we haven’t received them.  Should we ever do so, we will certainly share them with you!