Dr. Julia K. McDonald

Professor of Mathematics

Faculty Chair

April 7, 1999

On March 19,1999, President Jeffrey Bullock gave five presentations to on-campus constituencies at the University of Dubuque announcing that the university was eliminating 23 of its 37 majors/programs. This decision could lead to the termination of contracts for 14 full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty—one-third of UD’s full-time faculty for undergraduate instruction.

The majors/programs to be “reduced” are business/special administration, chemistry, earth science, economics, environmental policy, finance, general science, history, international business, international studies, legal studies, liberal arts, marketing, mathematics, music, political science, pre-engineering, pre-law, pre-medicine, Spanish, special education, special education/behavior disorder, special education/other.

The presentations on March 19 focused on the financial situation at UD. Issues addressed included operating costs (with a projected net deficit for fiscal year 1998/99 of $1.35 million), growth in student tuition discount rates, retention/graduation rates, and the accumulated deficit. The thrust of the presentation was that the changes will provide financial savings due to budget “adjustments” (reductions) in programs, salaries, athletics, tuition discounts, and operating budgets.

Externally, the presentation is framed as the University’s Plan for Transformation, one which will transform the University from a liberal arts institution into a Professional University with a liberal arts foundation. The Plan “sets forth a clear, carefully thought-out blueprint for setting our financial house in order while furthering the University’s mission and values.”

The reduction in programs is framed as a means to “provide a more tightly defined curriculum that provides greater depth of knowledge, wider resources, and more diverse intellectual opinion.” The Plan is “designed to ensure academic excellence and to nourish a Christian community that promotes a lifelong love of learning and service.” The external rhetoric focuses on the Plan’s ability to help the University achieve the goals of its new Mission, Vision, and Action Plan.

It appears that the Plan has been in the works for almost nine months. However, during that time, there had been absolutely no faculty input!

The Plan was first presented to two faculty committees, the Educational Policies Council (EPC) and the University Planning, Advancement and Finance Committee (UPAFC) and the plenary faculty on March 19. At no time prior to the March 19 presentation did the Administration or any members of the Board approach the Faculty Assembly or any of its committees to discuss this “radical transformation.” The Programs and Curriculum Committee, whose explicit function is to serve as a task force on curriculum issues such as program changes, was never consulted, not in the planning stages of the Plan and not now after the announcement of the proposal. In fact, the Programs and Curriculum Committee is being denied access to the documentation supporting the proposal for the Plan.

In reviewing the supporting documentation provided, EPC has found that in addition to proposing what majors/programs are to be “reduced,” the Administration and Board is also deciding what courses in these same areas will still be taught in the future. Again, no faculty members, not even the department chairs, were consulted in reaching this decision.

According to the processes outlined in our Handbook, EPC has 30 calendar days from March 19 to address “the impact of financial exigency and/or substantial modification or discontinuance of a program or department on the academic program of the College.” At best we have 30 days to try to change the Board’s mind. UPAFC has already been told that the Board will probably convene a special meeting immediately after receiving EPC’s report rather than waiting to take action at the regularly scheduled Board meeting in mid-May. Following the Board action, affected faculty will receive official notice of the termination of their contracts.

The Board is not required to follow the recommendations of UPAFC or EPC on the transformation plan. So, unfavorable recommendations from those committees will probably not be enough to save the 23 majors/programs and the 14 faculty positions, including an as-yet-unknown number of tenured faculty (likely 10 or more).

The Plan is “not a belt-tightening but a transformation.” Thus, even as two-thirds of the current majors/programs are being cut and one-third of the full-time faculty for undergraduate instruction are being terminated, new programs are being considered by the Board (without faculty input as of yet). No provisions have been given for future courses or future staffing.

The University of Dubuque, its programs, its faculty, and its student body are all facing an extinction-level event as a result of the secretive activities of the Board and its administrative agents. A crisis at UD, indeed!