Report: Miami Faculty Upset With Mario Cristobal Contract After Being Hit With Pay Cuts

Members of Miami's faculty are reportedly upset after seeing the university sign new football coach Mario Cristobal to an $80 million contract after a year of pandemic cuts, according to the Miami Herald. 

Besides forcing faculty to teach in person, the university has slashed more than $100 million in its matching contributions to faculty retirement plans and forced staff to accept compensation cuts. But several faculty members tell the Miami Herald that they believe the cuts helped bankroll spending on athletics and construction projects.

"Faculty are asking themselves the question, why does there seem to be money for major capital projects, for a new football coach and for these [COVID-19] stimulus checks for students, while there isn’t money to make the faculty whole again after losing eight to nine months of retirement contributions,” said a Miami faculty senate member, who did not want to be identified by the Miami Herald due to possible repercussions. 

Miami, which is a private, non-profit university with 19,096 full-time undergraduate and graduate students, hired Oregon coach Cristobal last week after dismissing Manny Diaz. On top of the reported 10-year, $80 million contract, Miami reportedly had to pay Oregon $9 million to buy out Cristobal's contract along with $4 million to Diaz. 

While Miami administrators say that the funds for Cristobal’s contract will come from general funds, the Miami Herald reported that the university is expected to use earnings from its expanding healthcare system to cover the costs.

According to a 2019 Miami tax return, the university healthcare system generated $2.1 billion in revenue and made $300 million after expenses.

“It’s hard to imagine how the school really expects to compete for high quality academic talent when it is choosing to spend money in places that it seems to value more highly,” said one faculty member who did not want to be identified by the Herald.