University of Evansville students and faculty march down the sidewalk on Lincoln Avenue, adjacent to campus, as they protest UE President Christopher Pietruszkiewicz’s announcement of a plan that would eliminate 17 majors and lead to the departure of a quarter of the faculty Tuesday morning, Dec. 15, 2020.
MaCabe Brown / Courier & Press
EVANSVILLE — Professors at the University of Evansville are working to write their own "institutional alignment plan" in response to a proposal from the university that, if approved, would eliminate 17 majors and force out a quarter of the faculty.
A resolution calling for the creation of a faculty committee to begin drafting the plan passed the Faculty Senate Tuesday afternoon by a 12-1 margin, according to a news release from UE's chapter of the American Association of University Professors. One senator abstained. The resolution now moves on to the full faculty, who have seven days to vote.
If approved, the senate would create the Faculty Institutional Alignment Plan Ad Hoc Committee, consisting of more than a dozen faculty members from UE's four colleges. The committee would define goals and set a timeline before it evaluates all university functions.
The resolution is a response to the administration, which has asked faculty to provide input on a "draft academic alignment plan" it unveiled earlier this month.
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"In the spirit of positive cooperation, the Senate would like to honor this request," the resolution reads. "Recognizing that the academic component of the university is necessarily fundamentally intertwined with all its other components, the Senate seeks not to merely propose its own academic realignment plan but rather to follow the lead of the President and so propose an institutional alignment plan."
The faculty plan would be submitted to UE President Christopher Pietruszkiewicz before May 7, 2021, the last day of the spring semester. It's more time than the 30 days the university allotted for feedback on its proposal. Under the current timeline set forth by the administration, the academic alignment plan would be finalized at the start of next year and likely go to the Board of Trustees for a vote in February.
The resolution asks that the committee be given "access to all institutional data and information it deems relevant to its purpose unless such access is prohibited by law or university policy," which has been a sticking point in previous discussions between the administration and the faculty.
UE's administration has provided professors some data on enrollment and the finances of academic programs, but many faculty members view the analysis as flawed and incomplete. Many professors want to examine all areas of the university as part of a university-wide realignment plan, including athletics, which the administration says is currently off-limits
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"What we're saying is that his plan is inadequate, and we want to basically engage in our own...institutional alignment," said Daniel Byrne, a history professor at UE and secretary-treasurer of the school's AAUP chapter. "You can't think of things in component parts. You have to think about it holistically."
After the review, the committee would submit a proposal to the Faculty Senate. If the senate approves the plan, it would go before the full faculty for a vote. The plan would then be given to Pietruszkiewicz if it passes the senate.
The president is asked to respond within seven days of the official announcement if the faculty approve the resolution.
In a statement to the Courier & Press, Pietruszkiewicz indicated the administration will abide by the university's draft plan's timeline.
"We continue to engage in productive discussions with faculty members about the current realignment plan, which we expect to implement in early 2021," he wrote.
The university didn't answer a follow-up question by deadline asking for confirmation that Pietruszkiewicz won't agree to the terms of the resolution.
In his statement, he also said the process the faculty are asking for now is similar to the "prioritization" process the school tried several years ago.
"This resulted in very little, if any, progress at resolving UE’s operating deficit," he wrote.
Faculty have in the past disputed the president's characterization of the prioritization process. During that time, they were tasked with evaluating and ranking programs across the university. The faculty gave the prior administration recommendations, they say, but the school didn't act on them.
In an email given to C&P, Pietruszkiewicz said he'll discuss the resolution with his board.
"The timeline and process outlined in the resolution are different than the timeline and process I have discussed with the Board of Trustees," he wrote to a faculty member Tuesday. "I will be seeking input from the Board’s leadership on this resolution."
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In the email, Pietruszkiewicz also wrote that he and Provost Michael Austin would not be attending Tuesday's meeting. It's the second meeting in a row he has missed.
His statement to C&P didn't address his absence, even though the newspaper asked. In previous comments, the university said Pietruszkiewicz didn't attend the first meeting because he was unavailable.
"He just doesn't want to be on the record," Byrne said. "The senate meetings are open...They take detailed minutes of what is said. He doesn't like having what he said put back in front of him."
The president did write in the email, however, that he is offering faculty a moderated discussion with him on the proposal.
It has yet to be determined whether the faculty will take Pietruszkiewicz up on that offer, according to Byrne, who said he disagrees with the idea on principal.
"We have the mechanisms in place for faculty to have conversations," he said. "He can come to a Faculty Senate meeting or he can call a faculty meeting."
Pietruszkiewicz answered submitted questions in a meeting a few days after the plan was unveiled but, according to professors who attended, it was one-sided and faculty members were unable to ask follow-up questions.
Tuesday's resolution comes just days after faculty voted "no confidence" in the administration's draft plan by a wide margin.
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The proposal has sparked outrage on campus and beyond since it was first released on Dec. 10. The plan, which would eliminate three departments and force out nearly 40 faculty, was met with calls from some students, professors and alumni for Pietruszkiewicz to resign or be fired.
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