Full-time faculty and managers have been called to meetings on Thursday at 9, 10, and 11 am. Managers at 9, a large group of FTF at 10, and a smaller group of FTF at 11. If they follow the same pattern as before, the larger faculty group is in for some bad news. If anyone has any inside information, please reply.
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The HLC requirements will be relaxed under the new Education Dept. Then the rest of us are toast.
Seems more likely that keeping any full-time faculty on staff at all has more to do with satisfying HLC requirements than anything else.
Email from the top also does not mention that we had been told the exact opposite for the past 4+ years - that full-time faculty were having a significant improvement on student withdraw and retention rates and that the program was successful. Presentations were made in which supposed data was presented to back it up. At NO POINT during the past 4 years did any leaders say the opposite.
Email from the top said that they had "...completed an evaluation....and found that the impact full-time faculty had on student retention rates compared to associate faculty was not materially different" and yet they chose to keep around 30 FTF on staff full time
We thought "it would last" because they kept telling us over and over we had NOTHING to worry about.
I am sorry. There were 60 people in the smaller group. Basically, 30 people kept their jobs...for now....
I was on the 10 am call and 163 of us were let go. That means there are about 90 left. Someone said 20 more got fired at noon, so there are 60-70 people remaining.
They did this because it is cheaper to pay adjunct pay to all. All universities do it to save money, so it is no surprise. Teachers are incredibly important, but they are always the first to be cut while the admin and higher ups keep their high salaries.
The thing that amazes me is that you all thought this would last. It originally began as a pilot. A 'last ditch effort' to see if there was any possible way to stave off the declining enrollment. The company has been plagued with media indictments since the PBS series ran this 'Frontline' segment:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/collegeinc/
Also, the humanities area in general is declining. I think it will be extremely difficult to secure a similar position with similar pay for any other university in this field.
The bottom line is, read the signs of the times, create a 'side hustle' job and have more than one iron in the fire.
"When someone asked what criteria was used to make the decisions, we were told the criteria was developed with the legal team, was objective, and was not based on scholarship or credentials."
And yet, every one of the FTF who were on probation pending credential upgrades was in the group that was laid off.
I was on the "First call" at 10am MT. I had been with the University for 6 years and now after jumping through every hoop, meeting all demands, and buying a house a few months ago, I've been invited to teach part time at approximately 15% of my salary. As a former leader, this was the right thing to do for a University with dwindling enrollment, but it still feels filthy.
Any word on layoffs for the part-time 'Area Chairs' or the part-time 'Faculty Counsel'?
Hello everyone. Today, our friends and colleagues received some devastating news. We have all worked so closely together, that I feel like I have lost some of my best friends. While I was not in the layoff group, I feel compelled to help those who were. It is for this reason that I have set up a Facebook group, for job seekers. There is an overwhelming amount of schools and other online jobs that FTFs are qualified to do. Working collaboratively will enable you easily locate opportunities, schools and other valuable information.
Here is the link to the group, ‘Let’s Get to Work’. I will accept all requests to join.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1843887615881796/
Please read the group rules, before posting. Thank you.
I was on the 11:00 call and we were told our jobs were not impacted. When someone asked what criteria was used to make the decisions, we were told the criteria was developed with the legal team, was objective, and was not based on scholarship or credentials. That's all that was said. I'm very sorry.
I would love to get in on that Facebook group!! I'm a hot mess right now.
Any word on what happened w/ the group meeting at 11??
Thanks, Elizabeth! That's a great idea.
Everyone on the 10 am call is gone
For any faculty who have been laid off, I am starting a private FB group, so we can share information about other schools and jobs. The job search will be much more efficient if everyone shares information. There are so many online teaching jobs available, but finding them on your own is a daunting task. I will have someone who has the meeting invite for the lay off group to share the link to the page. I will be setting it up this weekend. Everyone is welcome to join the group, even those who were not laid off. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to work with all of you.
????
it is official. holy cow. i am so sad. 160 FTFs reduced to associate faculty. last day 2/27.
Official!!
Fired starting feb 17
Who was in the 9 group? I only saw FTF in the two later meetings?
maybe someone was on the manager call and updated this site.
How is it official? Meeting hasn't happened yet.
the 9am group safe not good for the 10 and 11 groups
So it's official 167 ftf gone at 10 abd 11
There is a noon meeting for the group of people, FTFs included, working on faculty records. Their project ends in june......
I can't think of why they would split us up if not to fire us. I'm in the big group. I think I'm toast.
For the enrollment invitee.. there is another discussion on this site regarding the enrollment changes. Today is the beginning of phase two of the restructuring. The other discussion specifically mentions enrollment. It's titled "what does this mean"
There are ~60 employees in the smaller FTF group and ~160 in the larger one. No idea how many in enrollment, and if other departments are also included.
I wonder if UOP will issue a press release afterward? Curious as to how many departments are affected and how many employees.
Good Luck to all. They reassured the QC would be ok under the current model. Of course that begs the question, is there another model the QC is not involved with?
Please keep us posted that does not sound good. Thank you for sharing and best of luck
I just got an invite for an "Organizational Change" teleconference on Thursday at 10am AZ time. I am Enrollment.