In response to upcoming budget cuts, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has created a petition to preserve faculty positions at the Wright State.
“Preserving Wright State's core academic mission means preserving faculty positions,” the petition states. “Eliminating faculty positions means reducing the courses available to our students and increasing the class sizes of those sections that are available--beyond even what is already occurring.”
Currently, the petition has over 400 signatures, close to its goal of 500.
According to Martin Kich, President of AAUP-WSU, the petition could potentially be the beginning of more action from the AAUP-WSU, in name of preserving the core mission of the university.
“The changes that have occurred since the conclusion of the presidential search have made an already fluid situation even more uncertain,” Kich said. “So we will have to see what budget cuts are announced by Dr. McCray, the Interim President, and then try to respond appropriately in order to preserve the core instructional mission of the university as much as it is possible for us to do so.”
Recent ratings state WSU spends too much on administration, given the name “administration bloat,” according to Kich.
“This means that there are too many administrators, who by the way are generally very well paid, as well as too many administrative support staff,” Kich said.
The AAUP-WSU attributes part of the deficit to spending done outsides of the university’s core mission.
“The deficits have been caused by massive spending on multiple initiatives outside of the core instructional mission of the university, with no revenue gains to be shown for almost any of that spending,” Kich said. “So those are the areas in which the spending ought to be cut and can be cut without affecting the availability of courses to students and their progress toward completion of their degrees.”
