University of Akron President R.J. Nemer and other administrators have told the university's faculty that the university will likely be pursuing "retrenchment" in the coming weeks, a process which could lead to significant layoffs.
Toni Bisconti, president of the Akron chapter of the American Association of University Professors, the union that represents full-time faculty, says morale on campus is low, although the retrenchment clause of the faculty's contract hasn't been invoked yet. The clause allows the university to reduce staff positions in the event of financial issues.
"I think there's a lot of fear. There's a lot of frustration. There's a lot of anxiety. I think our faculty has a sense of impending doom," she said.
She said Nemer, who's just about a half year into his presidency, and his administration have been transparent with the union, sharing the data they are looking at that shows the need for layoffs. The university's enrollment is about half what it was 15 years ago; the university previously eliminated 178 positions in 2020, which included almost 100 union faculty.
Some layoffs could be avoided by faculty choosing to retire, program consolidation or new revenue sources being found by the university, Bisconti said. The retrenchment process also provides for a period of time, up to a year in the case of full-time tenured faculty, before positions are eliminated, so faculty can make plans for retirement or to move on to a different job.
"They have to first demonstrate that it's necessary and we go through lots and lots of back and forth," Bisconti added. "They have to provide us with all of the data, all of their arguments."
Nemer in a letter to faculty and staff in late October said the university is seeking a "positive transformation" and hopes to ultimately see growth, but, the university currently has "limited financial resources."
"To propel the institution, we must engage in cost reductions at all levels to stabilize and ultimately refine UA for the future," Nemer wrote. "In that spirit, I began by reducing the annual expenditures of the Office of the President by more than $800,000. I am grateful to the entire University enterprise for reductions in operating expenses and staffing to meet the demands of the current budget."
The university has been pulling money from its financial reserves over the last several years to deal with revenue declining faster than its expenses, the Akron Beacon Journal reports, which could amount to drawing almost $27 million from reserves in the current fiscal year.
Bisconti said regardless of potential layoffs, the university will weather the storm.
"I think whatever whatever hills and mountains we have to climb right now, I'm confident that we will be able to do that," she said. "We [faculty and administration] may think there are two different paths to doing that, but I think we're trying to work in a cooperative, transparent way to get to the best solution that allows this area to continue to have the University of Akron, because I think it's incredibly important to our economy and to our community."
