Western Nevada College faculty protest layoffs of tenured faculty

Inside Higher Ed reports on NSHE faculty response to announced layoffs of 5 tenured faculty (out of 62) at Western Nevada College.

Faculty leaders at Western Nevada College are hopeful they have found a new way to oppose layoffs of five tenured faculty members. The Faculty Senate has passed a resolution calling on colleagues not to participate in any new hire search committees until the tenured positions are restored. ....The eight Nevada state colleges and universities were facing a proposed 31 percent cut in appropriations this academic year. This is what kickstarted the curricular review process in March, said Mark Ghan, the college’s vice president for human resources and legal affairs. The curricular review committee recommended that seven faculty positions should be terminated. Two of the seven took a buyout from Western Nevada, while five await a termination notice, he said. ...

But it’s the final appropriation number that has faculty members at Western Nevada scratching their heads. The college ended up having about 18 percent cut from its state appropriations, instead of the potentially disastrous 31 percent reduction. So it is puzzling that the university is still laying off the same number of faculty members as officials said would be necessary when it appeared that there would be a 31 percent cut, Strange said.

The five tenured faculty members facing layoff have taught at the college anywhere from 12 to 30 years, Strange said. ...The senate also passed a resolution calling on the administration to restart the curricular review process now that the budget reductions are no longer up in the air.