The University of Akron could cut as many as 35 faculty positions, and close its physics and anthropology programs, under a cost-cutting proposal from the school administration.
The 35 faculty members would come from a mix of programs at the university, including 10 from the university's well-regarded School of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering, said Toni Bisconti, president of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), which represents full-time faculty. That program will be merged with the Chemistry Department and the Chemical, Biomolecular and Corrosion Engineering Department, under current plans shared by the administration.
University of Akron President R.J. Nemer said in a Nov. 9 letter to John Wiencek, provost and executive vice president, that the university will need to pursue "retrenchment," a measure in the university's contract with the the AAUP that outlines the process for cutting faculty.
"With years of declining enrollment, we need to prioritize and focus on growth at the same time as we adjust our workforce, including in the academic units," Nemer said. "This will unfortunately involve the reduction of bargaining unit faculty positions at the University. We will be adjusting the number of the faculty to meet current student demand within our various degree offerings."
Bisconti, in a Nov. 21 message to union members, said the university is proposing the following cuts:
- Eliminating the anthropology and physics departments. Already, the physics department stopped taking on new majors.
- Five faculty members in the Art Department.
- Two faculty members in the History Department.
- In addition to the ten staff reductions from the polymer sciences departments, five more faculty will be cut from the Chemical, Biomolecular and Corrosion Engineering Department, as the two departments are merged.
- Three faculty from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.
The number of layoffs could be reduced in several ways, Bisconti said. The university and faculty union will still need to engage in retrenchment negotiations laid out in the union contract, and the university will continue, through the end of the year, to accept volunteers who will leave their jobs in exchange for incentives.
"I think I'm cautiously optimistic that they really do not want to retrench this many people," Bisconti said. "And so I hope that they're open to creative counteroffers."
The university is pursuing other initiatives to cut costs, Nemer said in his letter to Wiencek. Those include potentially privatizing parking services on campus, privatizing residence hall operations, reducing athletics expenditures by about $1.7 million this year, cutting back on staffing in the president's office and "substantially revising our scholarship modeling to significantly increase tuition revenue."
Bisconti said the university administration has been open and honest with the union. She said she hoped that continues.
"That's obviously the goal, is to save as many (positions) as we can," she said. "And I'm hoping that's what they (administration) want, too, while still trying to, as they would say, 'right size' the faculty of the university."
