Nearly 50 of the positions recommended in the retrenchment by interim Provost Douglas Leaman to Edwards are in the College of Liberal Arts, documents show.
Leaman, who is leaving the university on Feb. 21 and who will be replaced by Oliver Evans in an interim role, said while overall student enrollment has declined, there have been more decreases in programs involving liberal arts. The university expects more growth in the College of Nursing and Health and the College of Engineering and Computer Sciences, he said.
“Because faculty reductions in those programs would likely impact recruitment and retention, I made allowance for fewer reductions to the faculty in those departments,” he wrote.
Edwards said in a letter to the board that she recommends the university spend up to $1 million in the current academic year on enrollment and retention efforts.
“If the board authorizes the additional expenditure, I will consult with Faculty Senate on ways faculty can engage to the greatest effect. Last year the university supported Faculty Senate initiated efforts around specific faculty-led recruitment and retention efforts and this additional investment can build off of that foundation,” Edwards’ letter says.
First-year undergraduate student enrollment has declined by 53% since 2015, Leaman said in his report. Because of that, Leaman stressed the importance of boosting recruitment and retention efforts.
“Failing to do so might require additional faculty retrenchment,” Leaman said.
Wright State Faculty Senate President Laura Luehrmann said she received several frantic emails Thursday from faculty members. She said she told people that the trustees had not yet voted on the recommendations, and even after they do, the retrenchment process is a long one.
The AAUP-WSU executive committee and the Faculty Senate were given notice of the retrenchment process in November, the university said.
Affected faculty members would receive up to 18 months of notice and workforce displacement support, according to university documents. The university has previously provided similar support to employees who were laid off. About 50 positions were cut last summer, in addition to 30 employees who agreed to retire early.
The university employs 600 people who teach at the university, but not all of them are faculty members.
Luehrmann said if she gets notice that she is part of the retrenchment unit, she will still be teaching for the next 18 months under the terms of their bargaining agreement. It would not immediately affect students next fall, she said. However, she said she had spoken with members of the student government who are very concerned about the effects of the retrenchment on the student body.
“Nobody wants this,” Luehrmann said. “I think everyone is doing everything possible to make sure we can mitigate the need for retrenchment.”
Leaman said he’s hopeful that the university’s efforts for recruitment and retention are successful and they may be able to remove faculty from the retrenchment list who are still in their notice periods, or “call back” faculty members who positions have been eliminated.
“Because the collective bargaining agreement guarantees retrenched faculty as much as 18 months of paid notice before the elimination of their positions, we will have a significant opportunity to continue studying the need for, and effects of, retrenchment into 2023,” he said.
Wright State overall has about a $7 million budget surplus for 2021, according to documents from the university’s Finance, Audit, Governance and Compliance Committee meeting on Thursday. However, several trustees noted during the meeting that about $16 million of their revenue came from unanticipated, one-time revenue sources, including the CARES Act, the sale of a leased property and higher-than-expected returns on investments.
Wright State still saw substantial declines in student tuition revenue last year, though they were not as bad as initially anticipated.
According to university documents, in fiscal year 2021, the university is down about $12 million in tuition and fees for the fall semester compared to fiscal year 2020, or about 8.1%. Fiscal year 2021 began on July 1, 2020 and extended through June 30, 2021.
Asked by the Dayton Daily News during this Thursday news conference, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he did not have any specific response to the news of layoffs at Wright State, but said he knew the university was making efforts.
“I know that the board, Wright State and the president are continuing to focus on what’s going to be the right size for Wright State,” he said.
Recommended faculty cuts
Wright State’s interim provost recommended the following faculty cuts in colleges:
College of Education and Human Services: 12
College of Engineering and Computer Sciences: 12
College of Liberal Arts: 49
College of Nursing and Health: 0
College of Science and Mathematics: 26
Raj Soin College of Business: 14
