Lori Henson, who has taught journalism at Indiana State University for 11 years, learned Friday that she is among faculty and other employees losing their jobs because of enrollment losses and budget cuts.
"I am the only faculty line in journalism, and my position ends May 31," she wrote on social media. She is an instructor who specializes in journalism.
How many ISU faculty are being terminated, and in what areas, was not immediately available. ISU has said that due to enrollment losses, budget cuts would be necessary.
"We're in the midst of this process and will have more to say when it's completed" sometime this spring, ISU President Deborah Curtis said on Friday. She had no further comment.
In an interview, Henson commented on the elimination of her position as a non-tenured instructor. "I'm not certain what this means for journalism education at ISU." She teaches in the communication department.
She is exploring her options. "I don't know what will happen. I'm actually pretty zen about the whole thing. I have ideas and I have people contacting me in various ways. We'll see what happens."
Henson said she has a bigger concern. "I think that we as a society and especially as an institution of higher education need to value journalism and its role in a free and democratic society," she said.
In a newsletter, Chris Olsen, ISU provost and vice president for academic affairs, stated that faculty affected by reductions were to be notified by their deans Friday or very early next week "and will receive a letter detailing rights and benefits soon after that."
"As we have suggested since last year, it will not be possible to meet our budget reductions this year without eliminating some regular faculty, full-time staff and administrative positions.
"The number of regular faculty members that we are not able to have back next year looks to be smaller than initially feared, which is a relief. But these are very difficult decisions, and we all know how hard it is to lose valued colleagues."
The final number of regular faculty reductions might not be known until later in spring, "as we learn more about turnover, including potential retirements, and receive the final state budget appropriation," Olsen wrote.
"It’s difficult to balance the desire to let faculty know as soon as possible with the reality that there will be turnover between now and the end of the spring semester that will affect our personnel and budget situation."
The number of full-time staff members displaced from Academic Affairs "will be very small and finalized in the next few weeks," Olsen stated.
In response to the developments, ISU Faculty Senate chairman James Gustafson said, "It's terribly sad to be losing colleagues. We knew from the beginning of the year this was likely. We did all we could as faculty advocates to minimize it, and it really is far fewer people than was initially communicated to us, but it is still a difficult day nonetheless."
Enrollment declines have had a budget impact, and ISU is in the process of making budget reductions and realignments. The university is looking at programs that are in demand, and “we’re trying to adjust what resources go to the programs that seem to have a demand,” Curtis stated Jan. 27.
In November, Curtis announced that the university had to reduce expenses by at least $12 million for the 2023-24 budget.
Olsen's newsletter addressed ongoing efforts in academic affairs to streamline administration, reorganize units and make base budget reductions.
He said the reorganization of Extended Learning was completed last year and anyone who wanted to stay at ISU was able to stay.
"We are working similarly now to offer some staff members other positions at ISU if their current positions are eliminated through reorganization. That has happened successfully, in multiple cases, already. Again, these conversations are ongoing and the decisions can’t happen all at once, but we will progress as quickly as possible," he stated.
He also noted that while the current retirement policy is not being changed, ISU will offer eligible tenured faculty an additional 20% increment of their current base salary in addition to the amount they would already be eligible to receive.
"This incentive is to help faculty plan for, or make retirement decisions, allow for more confident budget planning for 2023-2024 and beyond, and to align better instructional resources to enrollment levels," Olsen said.
Olsen said ISU remains "in a comparatively strong position in terms of budget and personnel alignment when compared to many other colleges and universities. We have been able to avoid almost any layoffs before now because of our careful management of vacant positions, both faculty and staff, and our judicious decision-making.
"The budget reset that we are experiencing this year is larger than usual, in part because we’ve benefited from one-time federal stimulus money over the last two years. We always adjust budgets. This year is larger than usual, but it will put us in a much more confident position as we go forward in a post-pandemic enrollment environment."
ISU also is making progress on reorganization within Academic Affairs, trimming administration to operate more efficiently, he stated.
The Faculty Senate recently approved the concept of a reorganization of graduate education administration. The central College of Graduate and Professional Studies will be eliminated, replaced by a decentralized Graduate School led by a director to help oversee and coordinate graduate resources and programs.
Many details will be finalized over the next two months, but much work has already been done, Olsen stated. The reorganization, and targeted reduction of unfilled GA (graduation assistant) positions, will reduce the base budget by $1.25 million.
In addition, Linda Maule, University College dean, and Susan Powers, associate vice president, are working on a plan to reorganize and streamline the administration of advising across campus.
"This will remove the necessity for a separate University College and be ready by the end of May, timed with Dean Maule’s resignation and return to a full-time faculty position," Olsen wrote.
They will present the plan, take input, make revisions and discuss details with the deans and associate deans before it is implemented.
What University College is doing now with advising (bolstered by the Lilly Endowment grant, or “Project Success”) "is clearly working," Olsen said. "This is evidenced by dramatically higher persistence rates and improved academic performance. We don’t want to jeopardize that, and indeed the plan will be to extend as much of this model as possible to the entire undergraduate student population."
In another change, Dean Robin Crumrin has announced her retirement from the Cunningham Memorial Library within the next year. In anticipation of that change, "We have begun discussing what the administration of library services will look like in the future."
The current administrative reorganizations do not primarily involve the five traditional colleges or academic departments. "However, I expect future discussions and plans will do that," Olsen stated.
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