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Part-time faculty could be reduced as part of a series of belt-tightening measures the University of Vermont is considering in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.
As with most higher education institutions, the pandemic has dealt a multi-million dollar blow to the school’s budget. The university remains on sound financial footing, according to its leaders, but UVM has had to return millions to students in room and board fees and incur unexpected costs. Students, meanwhile, have sued for additional reimbursements.
UVM’s president, Suresh Garimella, has asked Gov. Phil Scott for $25 million from the $1.25 billion federal stimulus package Vermont received to help pay for student refunds, financial aid, expanded paid leave benefits, and growing technology needs.
But UVM is not the only public higher education system in Vermont hoping to receive additional aid from the federal package. The state colleges, which are governed separately, are also hoping for a cash infusion of at least $25 million and are in far more dire straits.
Deans of UVM’s colleges have begun issuing memos to faculty this week outlining how they plan to reduce spending. The steepest cuts appear to be hitting part-time and non-tenured-track faculty, who have fewer job protections than their tenured-track peers.
“We recognize that times are really difficult and decisions have to be made. But this really puts the burden on one particular group,” said Julie Roberts, the president of United Academics, which represents more than 700 and full-and part-time faculty members at UVM. The union is having a remote town hall meeting Friday with faculty to discuss the cuts.
Several deans also announced they were taking an 8.3% reduction in salary; associate deans and department chairs will see cuts to administrative stipends. The university has also announced an across-the-board hiring freeze for all faculty and staff positions, and a hold on travel expenses.
The university’s board of trustees on April 6 adopted an interim, 3-month budget to give administrators more time to firm up financial projections for next year amid the pandemic’s uncertainty. Trustees expect to adopt a final budget for the upcoming fiscal year in September. This year’s operating budget was approximately $700 million.
“Each dean is making their own decision based on their budget and student demand. This year, we are being particularly careful to not over-commit ourselves, while still enabling faculty to maintain their benefits,” UVM spokesperson Enrique Corredera said in an email.
In the College of Arts and Science, the dean, William Falls announced on Monday that all non-tenured-track full-time faculty would only teach three-quarters of a full course load, which will reduce their pay, but allow them to retain full benefits. All part-time faculty hiring is suspended.
“These measures will impact nearly every member of our community in some way and are meant to reserve budgetary flexibility while ensuring that we are able to meet our curricular needs,” Falls wrote in a memo to faculty. “My hope is that the financial impact of the pandemic will be moderate and short-lived and that it will be possible to reverse some or all of these measures in the near future.”
And in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, interim dean Jean Harvey wrote to faculty on Tuesday to tell them the workloads of tenured-track faculty and lecturers would be increased to reduce or eliminate the need for part-time teaching labor. In the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, interim dean Scott Thomas told faculty on Monday that part-time teaching hires would be made only “in the most exceptional of circumstances” and that all pending hiring decisions would not be made until May 1 at the earliest.
And as the school cuts back spending on part-time and non-tenured faculty, those with tenure are being asked to pick up the slack. Sabbaticals scheduled for next year are being deferred, according to the deans’ memos.
