UConn faculty union pickets against proposed cuts: ‘Long-term, devastating effects’

University of Connecticut faculty picketed Tuesday in response to the administration’s plan to slash UConn’s academic budget by 15% over the next five years.

That plan will result in “long-term, devastating effects on research, teaching and learning,” according to a one-pager published by the UConn branch of the American Association of University Professors last week.

The union said UConn faculty members are bracing for a severe reduction or elimination of graduate programs, larger class sizes, reduced course offerings, scaled-back programs, cuts to teaching and research assistantships, increased faculty workloads, more virtual instruction and reduced tutoring and support.

Held Tuesday afternoon in the heart of the Storrs campus at the UConn seal, the informational picket led by UConn-AAUP was to spread awareness and demand accountability from state leaders and UConn officials as the University prepares to hold the first of three town halls on the budget.

The five-year financial plan, unveiled last month to the University Senate, calls for a 15% reduction in 2-ledger support to fill multimillion dollar gaps in UConn’s operating budget.

Jeffrey Geoghegan, UConn’s chief financial officer, said the budget’s 2-ledger expenses include operating support for UConn’s academic schools and colleges as well as administration and institutional support.

The plan would start with a 3% cut next year, followed by yearly incremental reductions of 4%, 3.5%, 2.5% and 2% through Fiscal Year 2029.

“The university recognizes the challenges the anticipated budget shortfalls present but we have shared goals of maintaining UConn and UConn Health’s academic, research, and clinical strengths,” UConn Deputy Spokesperson Mike Enright said in a statement to the Courant.

Enright said UConn has notified other university offices about potential cuts.

“In light of projected budget deficits, UConn’s non-academic units including administrative, support services, clinical, and athletics, have been asked to prepare for potential budget reductions by identifying efficiencies and strategies to increase revenue,” Enright said.

Enright added that UConn “plans and welcomes opportunities for dialogue, discussion, engagement, and transparency with the university community.” The first of those opportunities will take place on Wednesday at noon with a virtual town hall on the budget, where university administrators will have a chance to hear and respond to community concerns.

Driving the deficit is a gap between temporary federal COVID-19 aid and existing state support. Public institutions across the state have called for Gov. Ned Lamont and the state legislature to boost their annual budget allocations to higher education.

Chris Collibee, the governor’s budget spokesperson, said in a statement to the Courant that the Lamont administration “allocated over $1 billion in supplemental state funding to assist our public higher education units transition from one-time federal pandemic funding to an ongoing sustainable level of state funding.”

“One-time federal funding was never intended to result in increased ongoing state support, it was intended to create a bridge to facilitate financial stability during the pandemic,” Collibee said. “Any increase in state support would have to fit into a balanced budget that complies with the fiscal guardrails.”

Collibee said that by 2025, annual state funding for UConn will have increased $27.1 million from 2019. Additionally, he said the State’s General Fund now absorbs UConn’s pension fringe costs.

Collibee said that the Lamont administration “encourage(s) UConn and UConn Health to implement strategies that enable them to adapt to the elimination of the federal funds.”

“The university has a variety of ways to manage costs or increase revenue without increased state support,” Collibee said.

Eric Schultz, a professor on the Executive Committee of UConn-AAUP said he fears proposed cuts at UConn will have a “disastrous, damaging effect” on the welfare of undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, the state workforce and Connecticut.

“The university plays a really key role. It’s an engine of prosperity for the state of Connecticut, and I fear that severe damage is being done to that engine,” Schultz said. “We’re hurting and people need to be aware of what exactly is happening so that we hopefully can identify ways of taking action.”

Schultz said the protest was an appeal for greater transparency and accountability from administrators as well as more awareness and recognition from the legislature about the impacts of their budget proposals. He said faculty members are hoping to identify means of redress to “reverse course” on current scenarios.

UConn-AAUP Executive Director Michael Bailey said the “overall issue” is a lack of permanent state funding.

Bailey said that the 15% reduction plan and a lack of transparency surrounding the budget has wounded faculty morale.

“We’re not sure what this means for the individual departments, for graduate programs, for courses that are offered,” Bailey said. “It’s too early to tell exactly where the cuts are … but we’re talking about a significant amount of cuts to departments.”

Bailey said that according to discussions with UConn administrators, a percentage of the reduction will be absorbed by university deans in the first year.

“We’re not sure how the deans are going to be able to handle the cuts going forward,” Bailey said. “They may pass all of it onto the departments.”

Bailey said protesters hoped to raise awareness of the cuts and Wednesday’s virtual town hall, where Bailey said union members will watch how, and if, UConn administrators respond to their budget questions.

UConn announced the series of town halls last week following an open letter to President Radenka Maric, Provost Anne D’alleva and the Board of Trustees that was signed by 250 faculty members.

The signatories called for “greater clarity, transparency, and accountability from the administration about this crisis,” and requested “a clear account of the budgetary decisions from the last several years, and an explanation of how we have arrived at this critical point,” in addition to other itemized demands.

In chapter meetings, UConn-AAUP called on the administration for clearer communication of budget priorities, investments in research and teaching, and “to align their vision” with the union.

In a letter to the UConn community, Maric, D’Alleva and Chief Financial Officer Geoghegan said the town halls will “discuss the budgets for UConn and UConn Health, what actions the University has taken and plans to take to address potential projected shortfalls.

“Along with UConn’s Government Relations team, we will also continue to meet with legislators, the state’s Office of Policy and Management, and the governor to convey the impact that the current projected shortfalls would have on the University’s academic, research, and clinical missions,” Maric, D’Alleva and Geoghegan said.