Facing budget cuts, MU tells some non-tenured faculty that contracts won't be renewed

Proposed cuts to higher education by Gov. Eric Greitens — and uncertainty surrounding whether efforts to reduce those cuts will be successful — have prompted the University of Missouri to notify some non-tenure faculty that their contracts will not be renewed.

"Despite our best efforts, the University of Missouri continues to face significant budget challenges," Interim Provost Jim Spain said in a letter Wednesday. "While we work productively with our legislators, it remains prudent for us to plan on a potential significant drop in state revenue for the upcoming fiscal year."

While the depth of the financial hit to higher education will not be clear until the state budget is approved in June, higher education cuts are expected to coincide with a drop in tuition revenue next year, when the university accepts an incoming freshmen class projected to be smaller than the current graduating senior class.

The university is contractually required to give some individuals 90 days of notice if it does not intend to renew their non-tenure track contract, university spokesperson Christian Basi said Thursday. With the budget picture in Jefferson City "cloudy" and enrollment numbers uncertain until early May, the university was forced to anticipate budget shortfalls for the next fiscal year.

"We're having to make decisions based on the information we have today in the hopes that it might change," Basi said.

The university did not have a total number of people who were informed about their contracts. According to the university's Institutional Research & Quality Improvement, 43 percent of the university's full-time faculty was considered non-tenure track in 2017.

Last June, slashes to higher education funding prompted the UM System to shave $101 million and 474 jobs from its budget. More than 300 of those positions were eliminated at the University of Missouri at Columbia.

This year, Greitens has once again proposed cuts to higher education. His 2019 budget proposal released in January would decrease 2018's higher education funding by $70 million, though some lawmakers have proposed a plan to pare back that amount and legislative leaders are confident that those cuts will not be enacted to the extent that the Governor intended.

Basi said that this year department unit leaders have been asked to prepare scenarios for 10 percent, 12.5 percent and 15 percent budget cuts. They will also review whether small enrollment in classes will affect the needs of various programs.

The cuts will not be evenly distributed across the university's various schools, but determined within departments.

Meanwhile, university officials said they are focused on persuading lawmakers to restore funding to Missouri's universities and colleges.

On Wednesday, Spain said he and UM System President Mun Choi met with lawmakers in Jefferson City to advocate for more funding.

If cuts are less dramatic than expected or if students who fueled a strong application pool commit to the university in greater numbers by May, some individuals could be offered their jobs back.

"As the budget picture is clarified, we will be able to make additional decisions, including potential renewals of (non-tenured) faculty later in the spring," Spain wrote in his letter. "If that happens, we could hire some of these individuals back; however, we’re not in a position currently to renew all contracts for next year."

 

This story was originally published March 1, 2018 at 12:24 PM with the headline "Facing budget cuts, MU tells some non-tenured faculty that contracts won't be renewed."