Portland Community College administrators are eating humble pie—and they’re asking their teachers to pay for it.
Since 2009, PCC has made about $700,000 in overpayments to 228 English professors due to a financial computing error, according to The Oregonian. Apparently, over the last three years, instructors were accidentally paid an extra hour per week. The college recently discovered the error and is now asking for the money back.
Portland Community College administrators are eating humble pie—and they’re asking their teachers to pay for it.
Since 2009, PCC has made about $700,000 in overpayments to 228 English professors due to a financial computing error, according to The Oregonian. Apparently, over the last three years, instructors were accidentally paid an extra hour per week. The college recently discovered the error and is now asking for the money back.
An hour a week doesn’t seem like much, but spread it out over a few years and some professors will have to repay up to $8,000. That’s a little more serious.
The debacle does little for the reputation of the school and its financial integrity and provokes questions of how such an oversight could continue for so long without being detected. But, regardless, it did happen. That’s obvious. What doesn’t seem obvious is who should pay for the mistake.
Voices have been raised on both sides of the camp. Some say the school made the mistake, so it should foot the bill and not punish an already underpaid group of teachers for its own lack of organization. Others say the pay the instructors received was technically never theirs to begin with, so it’d be wrong to let them keep it.
Then there’s always the ethical component. Out of the 228 individuals, it’s hard to believe that not a single person realized they were being overpaid. Let’s say they worked a 40-hour week; it’d be pretty obvious if payment for 41 hours kept appearing on their paychecks. If someone did notice, why didn’t they do the right thing and report it? Maybe then the school could have fixed the glitch much earlier.
It begs the question: How many people would report such a “tiny” overpayment? Would most of us just chalk it up to a case of good luck? It’s the same thing as finding a $20 bill on the floor of a store. How many would turn it in to the “lost and found,” and how many would shrug their shoulders, exclaim “finders, keepers” and furtively shove it in their pocket?
Undoubtedly, there are many who had no idea what was going on. Since PCC has several adjunct and part-time instructors, it’s entirely possible that the amount of hours they worked varied from month to month and from semester to semester. And, nowadays, with most checks being direct-deposited, it’s safe to say that few people actually consistently peruse their pay stubs to ensure accuracy.
Whichever way you look at it, it’s an unfortunate situation. And though all sorts of questions could be asked about who should have noticed it and spoken up, the finger needs to be pointed squarely at the administration. Yes, the instructors who knew they were being overpaid had an obligation to report it. But in the end, it is the university who is ultimately responsible for the payment of faculty and the buck stops there (or in this case, doesn’t).
But does that mean the school should suck it up and assume the loss? No.
As annoying and, in some cases, burdensome a situation as this is, the teachers should pay the money back. It’s not theirs. Plain and simple.
Had it been an underpayment, they would have expected compensation, probably with interest. And rightly so. Therefore, on the flip side, the school administrators should be able to recover what rightly belongs to the school.
In an interview with The Oregonian, Rachel Burgess, a part-time adjunct instructor who owes $3,000 to the college, said, “Apparently someone did not pay attention to what they were doing, and because someone else made a mistake, we have to recoup this money for them, and I think that is really unfair.”
What’s unfair about it? Uncomfortable, yes. Inconvenient, absolutely. Unfair? Not really. It was unfair that she received $3,000 more than she deserved. The fair and admirable thing to do would be to acknowledge that and give it back.
If this sounds cold and unfeeling, it’s not meant to be. These are real people, with real lives and real expenses, and teachers in this country rarely, if ever, get paid what they should. And to add insult to injury, having to give up what little they might have is not an easy pill to swallow. But, in this case, though incredibly disappointing, the reality is that the money belongs to the school—and no amount of foot stomping is going to change that.
That said, the manner in which the money is repaid should be identical to the way it was dispersed. The university is offering to “work with” professors on repayment plans. There need only be one plan here: Unless a member of the faculty chooses to pay the money back in a lump sum, they should have the next three years to do so—having it taken out of their paychecks, one hour at a time, one week at a time. And with zero interest. Those who no longer work for the college should also be allowed to repay in a similar fashion.
If the university proposes a plan that would require instructors to return the money any quicker than that, the Federation of Faculty and Academic Professionals, which represents the faculty, had better laugh in its face and refuse point blank.
Let’s hope PCC does the right thing by not, in any way, burdening its professors with the responsibility for its blunder any more than they already are. The administration has a chance to be honorable in this situation, and while writing the $700,000 off as a loss is not the solution, being classy about getting it back is.
