UT-AAUP/CWA Picketing
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
11:30a.m. – 2:00p.m.
Media Release
Dr. Gregory Postel, President
The University of Toledo
Toledo, OH 43606
Dear President Postel,
This is only the second time the UT-AAUP has picketed since its founding 30 years ago. This picketing is supported by our sister UT staff union, the CWA and other unions, including AFSCME.
This picketing is because Matt Schroeder, Executive VP of Finance, is cutting another $17 million from all college budgets, except the medical school. This will hit the colleges hard causing faculty and programs to be terminated.
President Gregory Postel has announced that 58 academic programs have been cut with more to come. There has been no report from Dr. Postel or Schroeder as to how much was saved.
The UT academic budget (General Fund) is less than half of the total UT budget which includes UTMC.
The UT faculty payroll and benefits (not including members of the medical school) is less than 15% of the academic budget.
The Administration’s budget is over 40% of the academic budget, almost three times the faculty.
During the past 2½ years under Matt Schroeder and President Postel, over 75 faculty have retired or left UT. This is a drop from 625 to 550 faculty. This does not include the medical school. In addition, part-time and Visiting faculty have been eliminated.
The next round of Schroeder’s proposed cuts of $17 million will force colleges to layoff faculty, particularly Lecturers.
The total cost of Lecturer payroll (with benefits included) is less than $10 million, about 2.5% of the academic budget. Lecturers are the lowest paid full-time UT faculty and teach over 51% of the student credit hours (FTEs). They generate over $125 million in tuition and fees.
The CWA staff will also be cut again. All of the colleges have cut staff to the bone with some colleges having a single secretary responsible for 2 or 3 departments. The average staff pay is about $45,000 for 12 months. Many earn less because of cuts in their hours. The low-paid CWA staff have been our front-line student-friendly ambassadors in contact with students who come to a department office at all hours of the day looking for assistance. Now students are coming to department offices that are unstaffed. How much has been saved by the cuts in these valuable staff? All of the Student Success Coaches have been terminated. How much has been saved? What damage has been done to student success?
What have been the cuts for the Administration? President Postal and VP Schroeder announced Administration cuts of $12 million versus academic cuts of $16 million in 2022. There have been no administrative cuts before or after except for token cuts in May/June 2020 later restored by Schroeder. The Administration’s cuts in 2022 included cuts of several million in Dr Postel’s Presidential budget. There needs to be more significant cuts from the Administration’s budget and no further cuts in faculty or staff. Administrators do not generate revenue. They are supported by revenue generated by faculty.
The Summer Session budgets have also been cut, actually slashed. Summer courses enrolled with students sufficient to provide a surplus have been cut the last three Summer Sessions. Over 100 courses were cut this past Summer 2023. It was initially reported that UT lost 12% during Summer 2023, but Schroeder has declined to provide further details. Summer Sessions once generated a surplus, but not now.
Given that faculty payroll and benefits represent such a small percentage of the total budget, this latest round of Schroeder’s proposed cuts is not so much about cutting expenses, as it is about threatening faculty, the ones who produce the tuition revenue. The only thing this proposal will cut is recruitment and retention, as students enroll in institutions that respect their faculty and provide stable program schedules.
Respectfully,
Tim Brakel, President, UT-AAUP
Erika White, President, CWA