In Labor Management on October 4th, administration advised that reductions are being considered in four (4) units: IELP, WLL, International Affairs, and SBA. They advised their intent to proceed with reductions due to programmatic or curricular changes pursuant to Article 18 Section 2. Under Article 18 Section 2 the "Department Chair must provide written justification for the decision and explanation of the applicable shared governance procedure to the faculty members, the Deran, the Provost and the Association."
IELP: We were told that enrollment has dropped more than 50% since the peak point at which current staffing is based. The current political climate has had a significant impact on enrollment of foreign nationals throughout the United States. PSU-AAUP has met with potentially impacted employees in the department, and has broadly discussed with administration whether the layoff is better pursued through CBA Article 22- retrenchment. In both cases faculty would be laid off in inverse order to length of continuous service at the University.
WLL and SBA: We were told the layoffs in these departments is likely due to the reduction or elimination of foreign language instruction in degree programs.
International Affairs- Transnational Program: Like IELP, this program seen considerable enrollment reductions due to the political climate.
We expect to receive specific notice on or about October 15.