WHEREAS the Rutgers administration is proposing to cut part-time faculty and eliminate staff positions in the School of Arts and Sciences; and
Whereas 15–20 staff members’ positions are being eliminated, causing incalculable damage to individual lives and to the School’s research, teaching, and public service missions; and
Whereas the English Department’s Writing Program, the largest employer of part-time lecturers, has been permitted to plan spring courses for only 26 out of its current staff of 70 PTLs, with any further PTL assignments subject to an onerous “exception request” process supervised by the Provost and Chancellor; and
Whereas all departments and programs have been pressured to reassign courses to full-time faculty (tenure-track and non-tenure-track) and to eliminate small courses without regard for faculty expertise and governance in matters of curriculum; and
Whereas the State of New Jersey recently restored funding at 2020 levels to Rutgers, which relieves the financial pressure that has been presented as an excuse for this staff reduction; and
Whereas Executive Dean Peter March has exhorted chairs and program directors in a September 30 letter to “devote ourselves to providing a high quality, interactive educational experience”; and
Whereas high-quality remote education demands smaller classes, the retention of experienced instructors, and the support of staff, in a working environment free from the threat of arbitrary layoffs during a pandemic; and
Whereas Rutgers University possesses ample and growing unrestricted reserves, a “rainy day” fund withheld from the School of Arts and Sciences through the RCM budget model and other harmful financial policies;
BE IT RESOLVED,
- all eliminated staff positions will be reinstated immediately; and
- an ad hoc committee of faculty and staff will be charged with studying the Executive Dean’s staffing plan and formulating alternatives; and
- PTLs will be offered courses for spring 2021 at similar levels to spring 2020, as deemed appropriate by faculty officers responsible for curricula in the various departments and programs;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED,
- the faculty deplores these unjustified attacks on the faculty and staff of the School; and
- the faculty charges the Executive Dean to convey the text of this resolution directly to the Provost and Chancellor of Rutgers–New Brunswick and to the University President.