Comments on: Company taking over housekeeping at MVNU

By: Karen

Karen — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 23:00:25 +0000

I am also an Alum. But this is my take on it. Mr. Spears was probably hired to be a hatchet-man. It appears that his mission is to clean up a mess left by the previous president. However, Mr. Spears is neither liked nor trusted by faculty or staff. I am sure that after he contracts out the maintenance division (Denny maybe the house-keeping staff will share a life boat with you but I think NOT!) those who do the lawn maintenance, printing and mailing, and the computer division; he will slink off to another campus to start a new assult. Imagine, having a school of business, where business ethics are taught and having someone e-mail the termination notice of a whole department before the individuals were notified. Maybe the administration needs to review BUSINESS ETHICS!

By: Alumni

Alumni — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:01:04 +0000

I am an Alumni of MVNU, and I still live here in town. When I get a day off I still return to campus to talk to Staff/Faculty members that touched my life in my years at MVNU. I know 2-3 of the housekeeping staff by their first names, because they were some of the nicest staff members on campus. Even though they were cleaning up after 20somethings they always seemed to have a smile on their face and happily went about their work.

I think it is disgusting that the Admins got bonuses this year while so many on campus have lost their jobs. First physical plant, then security, and now the housekeepers. I say send the administration back to California, because it’s obvious they would fit right in. They don’t know how to properly handle money or deliver news.

By: yep

yep — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:41:15 +0000

maybe you havent realized this. but apparently jesus has contracted out his work to those who dont even understand his work. (example. Dave Daubenmire, MVNU (AKA east jesus tech), Rush Limbaugh, any tv evangelical christain)

i love how the christain right plays the holier than thou card. when they vote. but it is who they are voting for that keep running businesses into the ground.

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:32:54 +0000

This is a tragic story. i feel for all the employees.

companies (and yes universities are companies) are always looking at their bottom lines. how can they improve productivity while cutting costs so that they can make more money. The board of trustees at MVNU also needs to be apart of this disgraceful action.

maybe we should look at companies who treat their employees great and still make a profit. Starbucks, Chaco sandels, REI, LLBean…
Not the walmarts of the world.

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:20:34 +0000

MVNU is an ‚Äúintentionally teaching Christian University‚Äù according to their web site. The problem is as one of the public I do not see anything Christian about their actions. After all, they should be accountable to a ‚Äúhigher source,‚Äù namely God. Their walk and their talk are two different things. When they want to purchase something or renovate a building, they always say the money was ‚Äúdonated.‚Äù NICE! In addition, if you think the housekeeping department is the only department going, think again! The cafeteria and the snack bar are contracted out. The bookstore is contracted out. The recruiting of students has been contracted out. Housekeeping is going to be contracted out. I am sure they will try to contract out other areas, it is just a matter of time. I always thought that a Christian university was non-profit. The emphasis was to be on educating students so that they could go out and serve. They should change the name to Mt. Vernon University. This should be an embarrassment to the Nazarene churches in the area because it does reflect on them.

By: Kassandra

Kassandra — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:53:19 +0000

If others want to track some of the less well-known issues behind this story, they can join the facebook group, “Petition to keep MVNU from Laying off the Housekeeping Staff”.

By: Sue

Sue — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:45:40 +0000

I’ve often thought, when highly paid governmental officials get rid of programs that help those who have no voice, that maybe THEY should offer to take a big cut in pay and help the helpless a little. This situation feels exactly the same to me! Those who cut so easily ought to take a look inward and see if possibly THEY might be contributing to the problem. I see people every day, in my work, who are out of jobs. They are in constant worry about how they will get medical care for their children, food on their tables, about their utilities being shut off, and losing their houses. It seems like a Christian college might try to find another solution before putting their employees in a horrible situation. “What would Jesus do?”

By: Tiffiny

Tiffiny — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:21:15 +0000

There may be a financial squeeze on the University. How would the 9000.00 raise that most of the admin just received be explained? The staff has asked for years if their jobs would be out sourced. They were told time and time again that their jobs were safe and they had nothing to worry about. And to top it off, they get word by email. Not even the common courtesy of a face to face. Jeff Spear and Denny Taylor are in for a rough ride. Who will they call at 2 a.m. when a toilet overflows? Or who will be constantly mopping the floors because of tracked in snow? WFF will respond, but at 2 a.m. I’m sure some double or triple time will be paid. The contract if for 3 years. I wonder what the “savings” will be at the end of the initial contract?

By: Kassandra

Kassandra — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:53:55 +0000

The entire story was not reported, unfortunately. I think it is worth noting here that the housekeeping staff was let go via email sent out late Friday afternoon to all staff and faculty on campus. They were not notified ahead of time by the administration of MVNU and many of the housekeepers found out that they lost their jobs and families livelihoods from other staff members of MVNU. My mother found out she lost her job from a staff member in Network Computing on Saturday morning at a Teen Bible Quiz. Her workday ended at noon on Friday and she does not have internet access at home. I think it is unprofessional enough to lay off people via email (especially an entire department), but it is even worse that the rest of the campus community was aware of it before the affected parties even knew. Unfortunately, no real apology has been made by the MVNU administration to the housekeeping staff about the way they informed them.

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:07:41 +0000

I believe that real savings would come into play if they un-loaded some of the administration. I do not think the employees have had a raise in two years…. Those who worked towards recruiting students were let go and they outsourced recruitment. The people who were let go were graduates of MVNU… They lived it and believed in it. Now they only have approx. 303 new students. Yes, the economy is bad, we all know that. However, where there any actual savings in outsourcing the recruiters? Will there be any actual savings in getting rid of housekeeping? I noticed that MVNU purchased buildings in downtown Mt. Vernon. I heard they are beautiful; a lot of money was put into them. How did they pay for that? Will there be enough students to make that feasible? I believe that Jacob is right on the mark. An outside company will not have a vested interested in the spiritual, economic, social welfare of the faculty, staff and students. Like the old adage, “You get what you pay for.‚Äù