The University is cutting 100 of its 932 faculty positions for fall 2013.
Most or all of the cuts will come from faculty members retiring, leaving for other jobs and faculty who were on one-year contracts, said David Kielmeyer, University spokesperson.
Faculty on one-year contracts were previously notified that these contracts would not be renewed after this year, Kielmeyer said. Cuts will come from both the University’s main campus and Firelands campus.
The reduction will allow for the reallocation of $5.2 million to create more competitive staff salaries and to put toward “other University priorities,” said President Mary Ellen Mazey in an email to faculty and staff today.
The decision to reduce the number of faculty positions was made after the University compared its staffing needs to that of Miami University, Ohio University and Kent State University, according to a press release from the University.
Despite the decrease in faculty, Rodney Rogers, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, said the quality of education will not decrease.
“Our priority is ensuring the success of our students, and we are constantly evaluating staffing to meet their needs and operate as efficiently as possible,” Rogers said. “This will not impact the quality of a BGSU education or a student’s ability to graduate on time.”
David Jackson, president of the Faculty Association, said he was not aware of the University notifying anyone in the association about the reduction of faculty.
“That alone shows that there hasn’t been an iota of faculty involvement in this decision,” Jackson said.
Jackson said he believes the reduction will be bad for the University.
“We are completely opposed to this plan, to this process,” Jackson said. “Our position is that we oppose these cuts and if there is a rationale we would like to hear it and we’d like faculty to be involved in the decision making.”
The decrease in faculty positions comes after Mazey received a raise in early December, taking her salary from $375,100 to $382,602, according to a University document featuring gross earnings for the fiscal year 2011-12. Other faculty and staff also received raises that went into effect in September.
The Board of Trustees also gave Mazey a $50,000 bonus in December, which Mazey said she would give to student scholarships.
