Provost’s Proposed “Program Reduction” Plan: What’s next?

The Provost informed the heads of 18 departments and programs that their units would be advancing to Phase II of the Program Review/Reduction Process. There has been much consternation among faculty and staff in the named units over what exactly is in store. What can the Faculty Senate and the union do to preserve the programs that have served our students so well and have been the focus of so much of our professional effort? 
 
In 2021 the Intensive English Language Program was reorganized with faculty reductions under the retrenchment process under Article 22 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that language has been used in many decades (if ever).

Now, 18 programs (academic units) are being targeted for “review.” While the Provost claims only a “limited number” of Article 22 processes are envisioned, we can’t know at this moment where this will go. As The Faculty Senate’s Ad-Hoc Committee in Academic Program Reduction and Curricular Adjustments (APRCA) has noted, “Distrust between the administration and the faculty, coupled with no pressing need at the time for program elimination, derailed [such a] process [in 2020].”

Right now union representatives and members of the Faculty Senate are reviewing this situation. Faculty and staff are already overburdened. We cannot allow “reorganization” to put us in a worse position than we already are, further impeding our ability to serve our communities and students. Please stay tuned for more information…