Big Buyouts at U of Akron

[ZippyRulz]

faculty layoffs fallout after a year..

 

https://www.the-daily-record.com/story/news/2021/07/15/university-akron-layoffs-tenure-one-year-later-lawsuit/7785699002/?utm_source=the-daily-record-Daily Briefing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_briefing&utm_term=list_article_thumb&utm_content=OHIO-WOOSTER-NLETTER65

 

Sue Ramlo, another professor on the list of those who were laid off a year ago who has taken on a leadership role with the group, said not one tenured faculty member who got laid off has found an academic position elsewhere. 

 

Following the layoffs, faculty members who lost their jobs and those who kept them pushed back hard on the university for not cutting more from athletics before cutting the academic side of the house. 

The athletics budget cut about $4 million, but still relies heavily on the university's general fund for support. With a goal of looking for ways to lessen that reliance, the university formed an athletics working group, which contained members of the faculty, to review the finances of the athletics department and make recommendations. 

After 10 months, the group released its findings and recommendations this month. Chief among them is increasing fundraising, through corporate partnerships and hiring additional people specifically for fundraising in athletics. It also stated leaving the Mid-American Conference and Division I was not a viable option, given the cost of leaving the league. 

Edited July 18, 2021 by ZippyRulz

[Hilltopper]

On 7/17/2021 at 9:20 AM, ZippyRulz said:

faculty layoffs fallout after a year..

 

https://www.the-daily-record.com/story/news/2021/07/15/university-akron-layoffs-tenure-one-year-later-lawsuit/7785699002/?utm_source=the-daily-record-Daily Briefing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_briefing&utm_term=list_article_thumb&utm_content=OHIO-WOOSTER-NLETTER65

 

Those lawsuits have zero chance. Everything was handled according to the contract. What's really telling is the department heads were the ones who made the decisions on who stayed and who was let go. Since tenure was not a factor in the decision maybe those who were not retained should be looking inward to reevaluate their choices that put them in their current predicament. 

Edited July 18, 2021 by Hilltopper

[ZZZips]

I agree with Hilltopper.  Their peers in the union have moved on.  Time to shut up and dribble.   Interesting they haven't found a job with similar pay and benefits in one of the tightest job markets  in decades.   Just wondering if any people on this board have kids or grandkids who plan on majoring in Library Science?  

[ZippyRulz]

https://www.crainscleveland.com/education/cleveland-state-offer-buyouts-faculty-staff

 

paywalled but you get the idea. Can't is / has been undergoing budget cuts recently also.

 

[ZippyRulz]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/university-of-toledo-announces-plans-to-merge-four-colleges-into-two/ar-BB1liP8K?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=40a0e957f5c64a6e86cd9485914ac30d&ei=29

 

UT merging colleges.

 

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/business/cost-cutting/2024/02/20/another-wave-campus-cuts-hits-midwest-especially-hard

 

Wright State University

Wright State University, also in Ohio, announced last week that it is cutting 34 academic programs.

“It should be noted that 22 of these programs were already being deactivated by the departments and colleges in which they were housed as a routine process,” Provost Amy Thompson wrote in an announcement. “A listing of these programs is available on the Academic Efficiency and Effectiveness website.”

Targeted programs include a mix of undergraduate and graduate programs.

It remains unclear whether the cuts will be accompanied by job losses; a university spokesperson told Inside Higher Ed, “Employee impacts were not assessed.”

 

Baldwin Wallace University

Facing a budget deficit, Ohio’s Baldwin Wallace University is cutting 23 staff positions, reorganizing 13 academic programs and maintaining a hiring freeze through December, Ideastream reported.

“Like many universities across our country, both large and small, BW must always work to maintain a balanced budget. During the past two years we have operated with budget deficits, which we cannot continue to do,” university officials said in a statement earlier this month detailing plans to fix financial issues. “To address the operating deficit, we have looked at every area of the university over the past few months to ensure that we are operating as cost-effectively as possible. As a tuition-driven institution, it is imperative that we are operating efficiently so that every possible resource can be devoted directly to the student experience.”

Majors targeted for elimination include French, German, religion and philosophy.

 

Marietta College

Marietta College in Ohio plans to shed 36 jobs over the next three years, cutting a mix of administrative and nontenured faculty positions, administrators announced in a forum earlier this month.

The move comes after officials conducted an academic program review in the fall, which led to the college announcing it would drop 10 low-enrollment programs. Now it’s making personnel cuts.

In all, 22 faculty positions and 14 administrative jobs are set for elimination. Additionally, officials plan to leave 13 currently vacant positions unfilled, according to a news release. Tenured faculty will not be affected by the changes, according to the announcement.

Though Marietta’s enrollment has remained stable, administrators noted that tuition revenue has declined as the college has invested more in financial aid; operating expenses have also increased.

“It is vitally important that we maintain an operational expense base that can be supported by our revenues,” President Margaret L. Drugovich told the campus community at the forum. “We must address these issues at Marietta now, so that the college’s future holds as much promise as our past. It is our turn to set the stage for the next chapter in the history of this great college.”

Edited April 17 by ZippyRulz

[LZIp]

Thank god our heavy cuts are behind us. 
 

[GP1]

Speaking of cuts, I just heard Norte Dame College in Cleveland folded. I honestly do know how a lot of these private schools stay open. 

[egregiousbob]

On 4/17/2024 at 9:41 PM, LZIp said:

Thank god our heavy cuts are behind us. 
 

I don't think that's true based on $30MM budget shortfall UA is facing.  Miller said faculty layoffs not an option this time, so expect major cuts to colleges and athletics.  Likely a very big cut to athletics.

[ZippyRulz]

10 hours ago, egregiousbob said:

  Likely a very big cut to athletics.

 

any guess what that will be?

[egregiousbob]

15-20%?

 

 

[kreed5120]

On 5/12/2024 at 7:07 PM, ZippyRulz said:

 

any guess what that will be?

Maybe they will cut baseball again lol.

[Hilltopper]

6 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

Maybe they will cut baseball again lol.

Not likely

[ZipCat]

On 5/11/2024 at 3:29 PM, GP1 said:

Speaking of cuts, I just heard Norte Dame College in Cleveland folded. I honestly do know how a lot of these private schools stay open. 

 

Notre Dame college bet the farm on Athletics, and lost. It was stupid. 

 

The administrators who made that decision were using NDC as a stepping-stone to pad their resume to move onto greener pastures. I feel like Akron has suffered from similar philosophical administrators who see UA as a means to an end, rather than actually caring about the success or failure of the institutes they are in charge of.

[GP1]

3 hours ago, ZipCat said:

 

Notre Dame college bet the farm on Athletics, and lost. It was stupid. 

I think you accurately describe what is going on at a lot of private universities with small endowments. For example, Mt Union has over 200 players on the football team and less than 2,000 total students. It's 10% of their student body and 150 of them have no shot at playing. The 150 players with no shot are $3.75 million in revenue for the school. I would bet at least 25% of their students play sports. 

 

Birmingham Southern was into the D3 baseball playoffs when their school went belly up. 

 

I have a brother who went to Cap University in Columbus and he has no idea how they stay open.

 

This story is going to become more common. 

[ZipCat]

3 hours ago, GP1 said:

This story is going to become more common. 

 

I guess my biggest gripe is the decision makers that make decisions that ultimately tank institutions are usually long gone by the time whatever they enacted comes to fruition. That culture of resume building. UA has been through Nth Rebrands? What impact did they measurably have? Doesn't matter ... the people who made those decisions are long gone by the time to evaluate if they were a success or not, and they likely used those decisions to pad the resume to peter-principle themselves into a better paying position somewhere else. 

 

I hate being cynical, but it's just something I've observed over the years and in some cases have directly experienced in my own profession.

[GP1]

1 hour ago, ZipCat said:

 

I guess my biggest gripe is the decision makers that make decisions that ultimately tank institutions are usually long gone by the time whatever they enacted comes to fruition. That culture of resume building. UA has been through Nth Rebrands? What impact did they measurably have? Doesn't matter ... the people who made those decisions are long gone by the time to evaluate if they were a success or not, and they likely used those decisions to pad the resume to peter-principle themselves into a better paying position somewhere else. 

 

I hate being cynical, but it's just something I've observed over the years and in some cases have directly experienced in my own profession.

As someone who lived through the Six Sigma nightmare that was corporate America 20 years ago, I somewhat agree. 

 

I mostly believe these schools offer little educational value to the point they cannot draw a large number of students and parents who want to pay a ton of money for a poor education. I have extremely negative views on schools like this to the point where I'd rather not articulate them.