On Tuesday, May 11th, President Percy released the Article 22 Retrenchment Provisional Plan calling for the layoff of 9 NTTF in Intensive English Language Program (IELP), which is 43% of the instructional faculty. Any and all advocacy we can continue to do is appreciated. Sadly, you never know which unit is next with layoffs and cuts. However, if we push back strongly and hold the line, we could be successful.
Take Action. Here’s how:
- Organize a meeting with your colleagues before the scheduled ReImagine Meetings Zoom for your unit to share your concerns and come up with additional questions
- If you have an allied Chair, share the questions with them ahead of time.
- When attending a ReImagine Meetings Zoom, add our “A cut to one... is a cut to us all” Zoom background to your video/picture.
- During the zoom meeting with the Provost, ask/post the hard questions. Here are some example questions. The meetings are open to all, so go to the meeting that works for your schedule and do not restrain yourself to the one dedicated to your unit. Many units are not even included on the schedule, and especially those units with our Academic Professionals!
- Sign the petition in solidarity with IELP. This is a critical show of solidarity; we will not stand for these layoffs.
- Submit comments to the President’s website and to the Faculty Senate website. Submit to both portals, as the President is not obliged to share the comments received, but the APRCA committee will compile a report for Faculty Senate that will be available publicly.
- Continue to be critical and wary of their budget narratives without a transparent budget process.
This layoff proposal undermines the administration's current narrative of supporting creative and reimagined ways to support students. Administration could reassign IELP faculty to units across campus to support multilingual learners. For example, revive and expand the multilingual FRINQ/SINQ lab courses, and especially during the Open for Fall Open for All branding campaign plus summer bridge programs. Likewise, administration could evaluate all University-subsidized units--Athletics, the Business Accelerator program, University Place Hotel--to find other ways to save without cutting positions. This layoff plan further strengthens our skepticism about the ReImagine initiative and how administration will (or will not) incorporate ideas received from the campus community.