Staff buyouts, academic program offerings and textbooks at latest faculty senate meeting – The Cauldron
The Cleveland State University faculty senate meeting on Wednesday, April 3 included an update on the provost’s health and discussions about an action plan for the University’s budget deficit, a new digital humanities major, the structure of the education department, and textbook accessibility.
Faculty Senate President Anup Kumar began the meeting with a brief announcement that Provost Nigamanth Sridhar and his dog were hit by a car while on a walk. After visiting the hospital, Sridhar was diagnosed with a possible concussion. Sridhar was absent from the meeting as he recovered at home.
Budget Deficit
In her Report of the President, Laura Bloomberg, Ph.D., reported that she would take a plan to the board of trustees asking for a one-time $9 million payment to cover separation incentive packages for eligible University faculty and staff. An estimated 332 full-time educators (63% of CSU’s total full-time educators) and 391 full-time staff (44% of CSU’s full-time staff) would be eligible for the plan.
Photo Credit: WKYC 3
This plan is introduced amid a long-lasting budget deficit that CSU has endured for several years since the pandemic, including a projected $40 million budget gap that comprises 14% of CSU’s operating budget. Bloomberg emphasized that CSU, however, is not alone in this plight. The budget gap is part of a “national trend… a national reckoning around higher education,” according to Bloomberg.
While Bloomberg recognized the hardships for faculty and staff, she also noted, “If we do not close the budget gap, we do not exist, so we do have to talk about efficiency. We do have to think about things like student-faculty ratios.”
Bloomberg added that the plan will impact administration, including herself.
“There is no one–no area of the university that will not be touched by this.”
The separation incentive program is just one of the steps to address the budget deficit. The faculty senate academic steering committee identified five areas of investment “to strengthen the quality of the CSU experience”:
- Centralize advising- pair each student with one advisor for all years
- Transform employer partnerships- expand career services to increase hiring rates
- Future-proof curriculum- increase on-time degree completion and in-demand skills preparation
- Deepen transfer program partnerships- better serve transfer students by strengthening transfer pathways
- Modernize technology infrastructure- upgrade technology to mitigate risk, increase efficiency
The same committee also identified “six primary savings levers to adjust the expanse base to the future state,” with different percentages of savings coming from different levers:
- Overhead reduction- bring leadership and management in line with historical efficiency
- Centralization of functions- realize efficiency gains from centralizing IT and fiscal officer functions
- Strategic prioritization- refocus on areas of strength and make strategic decisions around athletics, research, hospitality, facilities and program offerings
- Optimize student-to-faculty ratios- adjust faculty headcount by separation incentive, potentially adjusting workload requirements
- Optimize student-to-staff ratios- adjust staff headcount to historical student-to-staff efficiency
- Non-headcount expense reduction- optimize vendor expenditures
Other deficit-reducing measures will be based on faculty and staff interest in the separation incentive program.
“I don’t want to put all of my eggs in one basket, but it is true that a lot of what comes next will be predicated on what the uptake is of the voluntary separations,” Bloomberg explained. “I do believe that we will emerge from this with a right-sized institution.”
When questioned about the elimination of educational programs, Bloomberg advised individuals to speak with their deans, emphasizing that the extent of potential eliminations would be based on voluntary uptake of the separation incentive. She further explained:
“I do believe that there will be programs that will be eliminated… I simply am not up to speed on that…I do not foresee us closing this $40 million hole without program reduction. What we typically do is look at the smallest programs… but that does not yield a lot.”
The plan was since brought before the board of trustees on April 9 and unanimously approved, though the exact amount approved was not released. An application for faculty and staff interested in the buyout could be ready by early May, with final approval of each package up to the University, according to Bloomberg.
On May 2, the University will hold a town hall meeting for the campus community with additional information, yet to be determined if it is open to students, though it will be open to faculty and staff.
Deborah Smith of the faculty senate budget and finance committee reported that student enrollment at CSU is expected to decline by 1.8%, 569 students, in 2025 as compared to 2024. Revenue from tuition and fees for the university is still expected to increase.
Discussion Agenda
Other items on the agenda included the addition of the digital humanities major to the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Education, which was approved by vote. The interdisciplinary major “builds on an existing core of courses,” which Kumar praised as a “good innovation.”
Updates were also given on the ongoing process of merging the three existing departments of educational studies, research and technology, counseling, and teacher education into one school of education, changing the structure for the program. The faculty senate representatives for the three departments spoke to “express [their] concern about the process by which this came about.” From their perspective, merging these departments was posed as a mandate, not a recommendation, from the provost. Since the merger is slated to be in place by July 1 of this year, “everything has been rapid fire,” according to one faculty senate member.
However, the same representatives of the three departments are in favor of the merger since the recent merger of the education departments into the current Levin college caused the department to lose their education-specific dean, the face of their programs in the local school districts and representation for law-making in Columbus. Individually, the programs struggled, so merging would be beneficial, though there are concerns about how it came about.
Kumar added that the necessary process was followed since a vote did take place within the college. Collection Management and Acquisitions Librarian, Hannah Pearson, with “concerns about the legitimacy and trust” further explained that, “you can follow the law to the letter, but that doesn’t mean you’re following the spirit of the law, for certain.” Despite concerns over the process and timing, the motion to delay the vote until the May meeting was defeated. The proposal, including the merger of the three departments and a structure for the resulting school, passed, with one nay and six abstentions.
Textbook Accessibility
Kumar reported that the textbook affordability contract that CSU was discussing with Follett, a library supplier, has been paused.
The contract would’ve potentially charged all CSU students the same fee to gain access to their textbooks as early as fall 2024. The update on its pause comes in light of the Student Government Association’s advocacy against the contract at several previous faculty senate meetings.
During the meeting, Anastasia Hunt, Director of Marketing and Technologies for CSU’s Student Government Association (SGA), delivered an update on the results of a survey that SGA conducted regarding the contract.
A total of 568 students completed the textbook survey, as compared to the total turnout of 100 students for the 2023 SGA elections. 66.9% of respondents reported that they had been assigned a textbook for a course that is free online, and 49.5% of students had bought a textbook online this semester.
When directly asked whether they would prefer to pay a flat fee or buy their own textbooks, 57 students preferred to pay $200 while 511 students preferred to buy their own. At a $150 fee, 80 students would prefer the flat rate, while 487 students would prefer to buy their own. At a $100 fee, 170 students would prefer the fee while 398 students would prefer to buy their own.
“It’s going to hurt the morale of this campus if you are going to be overcharging students if they’re already paying more than they need to,” said Hunt.
Hunt also reported that SGA added free feminine hygiene products for female students to all of the Student Center bathrooms. SGA elections were held on April 4 for representatives for next school year. Results can be found here.