ysu-oea-calls-on-board-of-trustees-to-authorize-university-assessment-5.12.2021

NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 12, 2021 CONTACT: Mark Vopat markvopat@gmail.com 330-577-3768 YSU-OEA Calls on YSU Board of Trustees to Authorize Full University Assessment YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Youngstown State University’s faculty union, YSU-OEA, calls on the YSU Board of Trustees to authorize Academic Senate’s April 30 request for a full assessment of all non-academic units at YSU before proceeding with any actions to reduce or eliminate academic programs Senate’s request was sent to YSU President Tressel, Provost Brien Smith and the YSU Board, In a response sent to Senate Chair Chet Cooper May 7, Tressel and Smith stated that “the Board will consider the letter at the June 2021 meeting when it also considers recommendations associated with the Academic Program Enhancement and Effectiveness Initiative [academic program review].” Their response also states that academic program review is a required component of the Higher Learning Commission’s reaccreditation of YSU and a strategy in YSU’s “Plan for Strategic Actions to Take Charge of Our Future” - a plan which requires significant faculty investment and commitment to achieve its listed goals and was put forth prior to the pandemic Yet, within days of YSU announcing a voluntary separation or retirement ‘buyout’ program beginning in June to reduce the total number of faculty, partially in response to YSU’s post-pandemic financial realities, YSU posted an internal announcement seeking applicants for the newly created “Associate Provost of Strategy and Engagement” position Tuesday “Faculty around the university cooperated with Provost Smith, Administration and Gray Associates this academic year to conduct rigorous and painful evaluations of each and every program to reduce our overall financial footprint and respond to continuing appeals for post-pandemic fiscal responsibility from McNally and the Board to address upcoming financial realities due to enrollment declines - all while working double-time to ensure our students received a quality education during a pandemic,” YSU-OEA president Susan Clutter said “Then Tuesday, YSU posts an internal ad for a new administrator position, a non-teaching position, with a potential salary of up to $130,000? Students come to YSU for our programs and our professors, not for provosts.” As stated by Smith and others in previous reports to the YSU Board, predicted declining regional demographics and other factors affecting all U.S higher education institutions in the wake of the pandemic will require YSU to make adjustments in the near future to remain solvent, reiterated through presentations made to the YSU Board by YSU Vice President for Finance and Business Operations, Neal McNally Thus far, these ‘adjustments’ have focused solely on academic programs while adjustments to the rest of the university or potential revisions to its pre-pandemic strategic actions plan are unclear “Administration owes it to our faculty, our students and our community to reflect on what such actions say about its sense of post-pandemic ‘fiscal responsibility’ and where the university’s focus on its future truly lies.“ -30-