December 23rd, 2024 by WCBC Radio
After months of hints and rumors, Frostburg State University has released a statement regarding faculty layoffs. The statement below was released at 10:20 Monday morning:
Frostburg State University has had to make very difficult decisions in order to assure the University is positioned well and has a strong financial foundation to continue its more than 125-year history of serving its students and as an anchor institution for western Maryland and the entire tri-state region we serve.
After many years of making moderate adjustments and cuts to deal with declining enrollments and increasing expenses, this year, in order to eliminate a recurring $7.7 million annual structural deficit, marginal solutions could no longer balance the University’s budget. In order to balance the budget, and indeed, in order to place FSU in a position to make strategic investments in its future, tougher choices had to be made.
The Educational Market Alignment Plan (EMAP) that emerged from a lengthy process that included the opportunity for input from the entire campus community, and even from those outside the campus community, is a balanced approach that impacts every part of the campus. Making the individual decisions that constitute EMAP was not done lightly, nor were the decisions easy. None were tougher than the decision to scale down the size of our faculty – retrenchment.
Today we are announcing the outcome of the retrenchment process, which although not technically considered retrenchment, includes the notification to some Full-Time Non-Tenure-Track (FTNTT) faculty that their contracts will not be renewed.
First, we want to express our great regret and empathy to those affected faculty members that this action is necessary. As you know, depending on your years of service and faculty rank, you now have either 6-months or 1-year to continue in your position before your faculty appointment is ended. During that time, you will receive, at no cost to you, support from a career placement firm engaged by FSU to alert you to opportunities and assist you with job applications you want to pursue. For a period of one year, you will be notified of faculty opportunities for which you are qualified at other USM institutions. Further, for a period of 3-years, should the faculty position you are currently in be reinstituted, you will have the opportunity to be recalled to service. Additionally, FSU is making the commitment that as non-faculty positions may become available within the University, affected FTNTT and retrenched faculty will be favorably considered for any positions for which they wish to apply and for which their skills and experience can be applied to the available position. The entire University thanks you for your service and for the impact you have had, and will continue to have for some time, on the students we serve.
The loss of any faculty from FSU is always difficult. When that loss is caused by circumstances beyond the sole control of the University and resulting in some of our best faculty members, through no fault of their own, being forced to separate from the University, it leaves the entire University community wounded.
A detailed report of the President’s Retrenchment Decisions will be released to the Faculty Senate, in both redacted and unredacted versions, after the holiday break. Simultaneously, redacted and unredacted versions of the Retrenchment Plan Committee’s report and recommendations will be released to the Faculty Senate. The reason for issuing redacted versions of each report is because both contain sensitive personally-identifiable personnel information. While individuals affected by non-renewal notifications or retrenchment decisions are free to share or maintain such information to themselves, the Administration will not release such information publicly.
Although these notifications were originally scheduled for mid-January, following a request by the faculty senate, we worked with every department to ensure the timing occurred prior to the winter break.
If there is any bright spot in the current circumstances, it is that despite the raw emotions, anxiety and other reactions we have witnessed during these difficult times, the University, the University System of Maryland, and particularly, some among the faculty stepped-up to minimize the impact that retrenchment would otherwise have had on our University.
Four (4) senior faculty members have submitted their retirement notice. Thirteen (13) senior faculty members have executed agreements with the University to exercise Transitional Terminal Leave (often referred to as phased retirement) agreements and permanently separate from FSU as soon as the end of the Spring 2025 semester, but no later than the end of fiscal year 2026 (June 30, 2026). In accordance with judgements expressed by their department chairs, their deans, and often by the faculty member themselves, none of these faculty members will need to be replaced. Thus, the full amount of savings realized from their separation have been fully applied to reducing the number of FTNTT, tenured or tenure-track faculty whose position will need to be eliminated. Because the compensation of senior faculty tends to be considerably higher than more junior faculty, who are at greater risk for non-renewal/retrenchment in accordance with the Faculty Handbook, each retirement or TTL agreement saved an estimated one and one half (1.5) positions from being eliminated, or approximately twenty-four (24) positions.
Four (4) individuals serving within the administration (these do not include two (2) divisional vice presidents positions being eliminated as part of divisional mergers) are retiring or are planning to separate from the University before the start of fiscal year 2026 (July 1, 2025). Although not required to be included in the retrenchment policy or calculations, all of the savings from these positions have been credited and applied to the contract non-renewal/retrenchment calculations, thus preventing additional faculty position elimination. This application of savings reduces the number of estimated non-renewals/retrenchment by an additional eight (8) positions.
Despite the excellent response from faculty to calls from the Administration to consider submitting proposals for Transition Terminal Leave, or among those faculty who have opted for retirement, or even with the decision to apply administrative retirement savings to the contract non-renewal/retrenchment calculations, the need to eliminate certain faculty appointments persisted. In accordance with the required financial and student-faculty ratio targets previously established, four (4) full-time non-tenure track positions will not have their contracts renewed. One (1) tenured faculty member will be retrenched. Three (3) tenure-track faculty members will be retrenched. Additionally, eleven (11) adjunct faculty, each teaching one (1) course, are not expected to be called back. By definition under the FSU Faculty Handbook and the USM Board of Regents policy, retrenchment pertains only to tenured and tenure-track faculty appointments. Non-renewal of FTNTT contracts and decisions to engage with adjunct faculty is solely an administrative decision.
While specifics will be included in the President’s Retrenchment Decision report to be submitted to the Faculty Senate after the holiday break, no FTNTT contract non-renewal, nor any retrenchment decision deviated, for any reason, from the order recommended by the Retrenchment Plan Committee, from the procedures established in the FSU Faculty Handbook, nor from the USM Board of Regents policy.
In summary, the retrenchment process has resulted in notification having been sent by the University to four (4) faculty members, whose faculty appointment will end. Each has been provided either a 6-month or 1-year notification period (depending on their length of service to the University), during which they will be fully employed and fully compensated. Additionally, four (4) faculty members working under a full-time non-tenure-track employment contract will not have their contract renewed. They have each been given a 6-month notification of non-renewal and each will be fully employed and fully compensated until the end of their contract.
It is important to note that any additional faculty retirements or TTL agreements taking effect, and thus realizing additional savings before the start of fiscal year 2027, may reduce the number of retrenchments or reduction of FTNTT contracts further. Should that occur, a notice rescinding the notification sent to individual faculty will ensue.
We know that these are challenging times not faced by FSU before. We also realize that the emotional response and toll of this process has taxed our ability to remain a strong and unified community. We hope with this announcement, the community – both on campus and throughout the region – may begin to heal and come together to make FSU stronger and better able to continue to serve our students, our community, our state and the people of our tri-state region. We owe them nothing less.
Thank you.
