Whereas, Executive Dean March has implemented President Barchi’s chosen budget model, Responsibility Center Management, in SAS since his appointment in July 2014;
Whereas, with the consistent support of Executive Dean March, that budget model has starved the School of Arts and Sciences of the funds it earns (and needs) to carry out its mission in research, teaching, and external service—to the detriment of each of these aspects of the mission;
Whereas, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Dean March has used an alleged SAS budget deficit to justify eliminating 22 staff positions and cutting Part-Time Lecturer course loads, which not only harms those individuals but undermines our core mission;
Whereas, on October 15, 2020, the faculty of Arts and Sciences voted overwhelmingly, by 486 to 42, to restore the staff and PTL positions and convene a faculty committee to study budgetary alternatives;
Whereas, on October 22, 2020, Executive Dean March rejected that faculty resolution, foreclosing alternatives to austerity under RCM;
Whereas, Dean March has recently indicated in a December 7 letter to chairs and program directors that he has been “listening to feedback” while nonetheless pursuing earlier plans for cuts without alteration;
Whereas, by centralizing financial information, Dean March has excluded the faculty from meaningful participation in decisions of great consequence to the academic mission of the School;
Whereas, the SAS bylaws stipulate that “Affairs of SAS shall be administered by the Executive Dean and governed by the voting members of SAS” (Article I, Section 2);
Be it resolved, The faculty of the School of Arts and Sciences calls upon Executive Dean Peter March to create an ad hoc budget committee composed of three voting members of SAS elected from each of the four divisions of the School, plus three members elected from among the SAS staff. The committee shall have full access to all budget documents available to the Executive Dean. At the May 2021 SAS faculty meeting, the committee shall submit a report on the SAS budget, on layoffs, and on alternatives to layoffs.
Be it further resolved, The Executive Dean shall suspend all further staff layoffs and suspend further reductions to the PTL ranks at least until the delivery of the report of the SAS ad hoc budget committee in May 2021.