UMass Boston cuts protested
Consolidation will expand class size
The University of Massachusetts Boston is cutting some of its adjunct faculty and combining courses to save money in a belt-tightening move that will boost class sizes as the university faces a steep budget deficit.
Classes taught by part-time faculty are being cut from the fall course schedule, according to the university’s faculty union.
Marlene Kim, an economics professor who heads the union at UMass Boston, said administrators want to cut a quarter of her department’s 52 classes by next spring.
“The first thing they cut are classes and faculty, and as an educational institution, we need to provide teaching to students,” Kim told the Herald. “We need to educate these students, and they will be harmed with these cuts.”
A UMass Boston spokesman said the university is combining multi-section courses into larger, single sections that will have the same number of room for students as before they were combined.
“UMass Boston this fall will provide the same access to high-quality classes taught by our exceptional faculty as it does every semester,” university spokesman DeWayne Lehman said in a statement.
He didn’t say how many classes were cut, the number of adjuncts not returning in the fall and the projected savings for UMass Boston, which is struggling with a $30 million deficit after an overly ambitious expansion.
Students eyeing the class cuts fear sections will fill up and jeopardize their graduation.
Jenn Salas, a 24-year-old biology major planning to graduate next year, said she still needs to take multiple upper biology classes, but with only one section of each, scheduling conflicts seem likely.
“It’s the only section I can take that class,” she said. “Are they going to run it? Are they not going to run it? You don’t know until the first week of classes or the week before even.”
Salas said the class cuts and university-wide budgettightening are making her rethink whether to stay at UMass Boston before graduate school.
“With the cuts, I don’t think it would be worth my time,” she said.
Nearly 500 members of the faculty union have signed a petition asking UMass Boston officials to tell them how many adjunct faculty are being cut, explain the rationale and request a moratorium on cuts for required classes and sections that usually fill up. The school has not responded.
Meeting last month with students, staff and trustees, UMass President Marty Meehan pledged to protect the university’s “academic mission” from cuts.
“The steps we’ve taken over the last couple of months have been to preserve UMass Boston’s vital mission, avoid steep tuition increases for students and protect the teaching and learning environment on campus,” Meehan said.