Every day at Stony Brook, each and every one of us is bombarded by signage: “Far Beyond.” The message from the university to its student body: If you strive for success, Stony Brook will propel you towards it. The university has fallen short on their end of the bargain.

From the perspectives of many long-serving faculty, the primary cause of the chronic financial problems within the university is quite clear: incentives for upper management are poorly aligned with the long-term best interests of the institution and have been for some time.