Harrison Stidolph, Guest Writer
View of CASL. Photo//Kalaia Jackson
On November 22, 6:00 pm, UM-Dearborn’s College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters(CASL) has announced new money-saving strategies in response to an extended period of decline in student enrollment. The plans could have far-reaching implications for faculty and students, and is receiving pushback from faculty.
An online petition led by students who disagree with the administration’s decisions has been gaining traction since Thursday, asking the administration to reconsider its plans and give reassurance that students and faculty will not bear the brunt of the cuts. Close to 300 students have signed the petition on Friday alone.(To clarify for readers, students that plan to sign, the proposed strategies are only focused on CASL, and faculty members are only facing an increase in work, but no reduction in pay.)
Starting in the winter semester, the college’s strategy to reduce costs is expected to include cancellations of classes, along with realignments of faculty positions and workloads.
According to a three-year profile by UM-Dearborn’s Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness, the university has been seeing a progressive decline in overall enrollment with CASL going from a headcount of 2,617 in the 2021-2022 academic year, to 2,446 in 2023-2024.
The proposed cuts have begun to spark outrage amongst students and staff across campus. Many have become outspoken about the impending changes. They have voiced concerns of job losses, increased workloads among faculty, and an erosion in academic quality underlined by hurt chances of students’ ability to graduate and a decline in the personalized attention students receive in the classroom.
The department of Language, Culture, and Arts is slated to have some of the most adverse changes, receiving an announcement confirmed by department faculty that classes must have “at least 15 students to run and otherwise would be canceled except for rare exceptions.”
CASL’s Dean’s office hosted a Zoom meeting to inform faculty of the university’s ongoing decisions, intended by the college to address these concerns. According to reports from faculty members, nothing concerning the college’s plans had been put in writing before the meeting by the administration.
When probed for comment concerning allegations of faculty unrest along with the recent LCA cuts, the following statement was provided by the University on Wednesday evening: “The College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters is experiencing challenging financial times, like many liberal arts colleges across the country. The college is considering a variety of options (some of which are more difficult than others) and all options are taken very seriously due to their potential impact on the livelihoods of our employees and impact on students. Consideration and discussion continues in the college and final decisions have not been made. The administration will work closely with college faculty and staff, in a collaborative manner, to seek input on proposed actions as we all work together to address the budgetary challenges ahead of us.”
One faculty member who attended the meeting detailed what went on at the meeting: “Originally this meeting was meant to be about faculty workload and realignment. The dean is trying to make the college more efficient”, they explained. But the faculty, particularly those that are non-tenured, feel blindsided and unconsulted by the sudden announcements of these sweeping changes.
“The faculty [are] definitely pushing back, and I don’t think it would be a surprise to anyone in the administration that the faculty is organizing”, said one faculty member who requested anonymity. “[They are] trying to call out what we see as violations in the college bylaws and other policy violations, because the faculty was not consulted before these decisions were made and it is within the bylaws that it is supposed to happen.”
Faculty are most concerned about potential layoffs of level I and level II lecturers, leaving level III and IV faculty to cover the loss. Faculty members are arguing that the cuts will hurt longtime lecturers, some of whom will lose health benefits before the holidays.
Some professors are arguing that boosting course caps on some online classes from 30 to 50- some even as high as 90 students, will hurt the quality of education. According to the plan, classes currently taught by lecturers may be taught by tenured professors.
According to statements from lecturers, a possible reduction in lower-level faculty as a result of class cuts will force upper-level lecturers and tenured professors to begin covering more introductory courses, concerning many faculty members about the coming increase in workload.
Some faculty are angered at the possibility of such an adverse increase in workload, leaving them afraid of the quality of education students will receive. “[It] makes it impossible to engage with students, it’s not a good education”, one tenured professor lamented. “This is going to degrade the quality of education”.
Currently boasting a 16:1 student-faculty ratio according to the National Center for Educational Statistics(NCES), many students and staff pride themselves on the personalized attention that students receive. These proposed changes have faculty members in fear that this personalized attention may be in jeopardy.
Following the CASL faculty meeting on Wednesday, professors and lecturers have begun encouraging their students to register for next semester as soon as possible, leading many students to start mobilizing themselves.
This student-led pushback only underscores the broader unrest amongst students and lecturers, who aim to see the most uncertain future. One professor who attended the Wednesday noted their thoughts on the faculty’s concerns: “Once the Q&A started, it was all pushback. It was mostly in the form of questions- ‘explain this’, ‘how are you going to handle this’, and I think the dean showed some emotion, but there was nobody speaking in favor for sure.”
Moreover, many faculty are concerned about how the Dean of CASL has handled the situation. “At one point, the dean said that when they made these decisions she didn’t see how it would hurt anybody”, said one lecturer. “And it was clear she wasn’t thinking about lecturers at all because she’s deeply hurting that group of people, but she just didn’t consider them while there were lecturers in the meeting. [That was] really painful.”
Noting a lack of thought towards how lecturers are being treated, some professors are concerned about the humanity of the administration’s decisions: “[I understand] an institution with enrollment fluctuating like this has to have some opportunity to be nimble, but there’s a way of doing it with care and compassion, [along with] planning and evidence-driven rationales. That is possible, and that’s not how this was handled”, said one professor who attended the Wednesday meeting. “Knowing that cuts need to happen when enrollment shrinks, there are more humane ways of handling it”.
As the situation continues, not only is fear and distrust growing for the long-term implications of CASL’s budget strategies, but some are more upset on a personal level: “You hear about these things happening at other institutions; [of course] it could happen here, but it’s really painful when it’s people you know who are making these decisions.” As these strategies take hold in the coming weeks before the winter semester begins, many are bracing for the coming changes: “I don’t like the workload, but I will take it on if it means saving lecturers or saving students, and it’s not doing that.”
Some faculty members are encouraging students to register as soon as possible, and some students have begun to email members of CASL administration to express their concerns.