During the next few weeks you may be invited to open Zoom meetings with the Provost to discuss the metrics by which we will be assessing ourselves for cuts; “principles and priorities” of the Academic Program Reduction and Curricular Adjustments (APRCA) Committee; and in the same breath of air we’ll be figuring out how to reimagine ourselves. (We’ve already shared with you our Top 3 Concerns about this campaign.) Are you confused? You’re not alone.
Provost’s Jeffords’s Budget Confusion Campaign is a thinly veiled ploy to get PSU Faculty and staff buy-in to Administration’s budget austerity narrative. Meanwhile, President Percy just announced the layoffs of 9 faculty members in the Intensive English Language Program, and at least 14 adjuncts who teach for University Studies have also been cut from next year’s budget, yet at the same time there are jobs posted for University Studies Adjuncts!
Is laying off people and all of this reimagining during the pandemic necessary? This ReImagine campaign is a way to get employees chasing after carrots only to fall over the cliff of budget cuts, even while the University is awash in federal (and state) cash meant precisely to maintain normal operations. As detailed in the 2021 Federal American Rescue Plan, “Recipients may also use payments from the Fiscal Recovery Funds to replace State, local, and Tribal government revenue lost due to COVID-19, helping to ensure that [Universities] can continue to provide needed services and avoid cuts or layoffs.” While we think providing funding for creative proposals is a great idea, when it involves having to creatively think our way out of a job, or creatively think of ways to serve more students with less resources, we are not onboard--especially when the University has received $105M in relief funds to help us navigate the current crisis.
And where are Academic Professionals in this conversation? The Provost’s ReImagine campaign focuses on career readiness and development, yet she has failed to include critical units such as Career Services, Advising, Enrollment, Global Diversity and Inclusion, Disability Resource Center, the Library, Cultural Resource Centers, and other direct student support services such as Student Health and Counseling, Disability Resource Center, numerous student cultural resource centers, the Office of Academic Innovation, Honors, and University Studies, for example.
This is the beginning of death by a thousand cuts:
- IELP is the first cut.
- Adjuncts are next.
- Not replacing lines for those retiring is already in the mix, but now Admin is offering early retirement incentives.
- It will continue after this. It’s just a matter of what is targeted next.
All the while we see stories around the country, such as from the University of Vermont, where they cut so many jobs that now the university is in a bind with spiking Fall 2021 enrollments. Indeed, our own Graduate School reports a 28% increase in international applicants -- you know, those students who sometimes participate in IELP!
This all sounds demoralizing, yet we remain optimistic. Why? Because members like you can and will ask the hard critical questions at these zoom meetings. If we band together and ask tough questions, we can show the Provost that we won’t fall into the trap of this budget confusion campaign.
Take Action and say NO to cuts across the University. Here’s how:
- Organize a meeting with your colleagues before the scheduled zoom meeting for your unit to share your concerns and come up with additional questions--if you have a sympathetic Chair, share the questions with them ahead of time.
- Attend a zoom meeting with the Provost and ask hard questions. Here are some examples. All the meetings are open, so go to the meeting that works for your schedule and don’t restrain yourself to the one dedicated to your unit. Many units aren’t even included on the schedule, and especially those units with our Academic Professionals!
- Sign the petition in solidarity with IELP. This is a critical show of solidarity; we will not stand for these layoffs.
- Submit comments during the 30-day comment period in reaction to President Percy’s Provisional Plan to cut 9 faculty positions from the IELP to both the APRCA committee and the President;
- Be critical and wary of these budget narratives without transparent budget processes.
|
|
|
|
