UConn-AAUP March 14, 2025
In this issue:
Departmental Budget Cuts at UConn
Chief Negotiator Blog Post 3/14/25
SEBAC Survey Reminder
April 5th: Defending Higher Education Conference
Departmental Budget Cuts at UConn
Dear Colleagues,
On March 12, the Provost’s Office sent an email to the campus community refuting a message from our organization about Departmental budget cuts. I do not care to perpetuate a public “flame war” via email, but I will respond with one final statement on this thread.
The primary purpose of our message was to ensure that Department Heads do not respond to recession demands from the administration by identifying faculty to be cut or by complying with overt demands to cut people.
I firmly stand by the statement that some departments have been asked to draft plans to cut 19% of their budgets over the next four years. The 19% figure was reported to us in good faith by multiple department heads. No one in this organization has ever claimed that there was a call for a universal 19% cut across all departments at this university. It was also reported to us by a Department Head that a Dean identified two positions to be cut within their department and that those employees had been notified.
I am very pleased to hear that, as a general practice, Deans are not going to be instructing Department Heads to identify positions to cut, and that the Provost has not instructed Deans to do so. I think our members would welcome an assurance from the administration that departments could conceivably cut even the more conservative figure of 15% from their ledger 2 budgets by FY29 without nonrenewal of faculty or other current employees.
My earlier claims about the health of the University’s reserves did not come from the Governor’s Office alone. We received an in-depth analysis of the UConn budget from Howard Bunsis, a Professor of Accounting at Eastern Michigan University, and a CPA. He has also performed “Institutional Analysis” or budget audits of universities and colleges for AAUP chapters for many years while leading the AAUP National in Washington. In Bunsis’s assessment, the university has reserves far beyond its needs for debt service and far above what is needed to retain its gold star bond rating.
But I firmly agree that the university should not be relying on past surpluses as a central funding strategy going forward, nor was that my intention in raising the issue. I sincerely appreciate the advocacy that the administration is doing at the state level to increase our appropriations, which is a far more sustainable strategy. I and many other UConn-AAUP members have joined forces in this advocacy, both in testifying at the Appropriations Committee and through Op-Eds. We all have a shared interest in a strong budget for public higher education and agree that getting a good deal from the legislature should be our joint focus right now.
Yours in Solidarity,
Chris Vials
President UConn-AAUP
Chief Negotiator Blog Post: March 14, 2025
The chief negotiator has posted an update on negotiations. Log in now to review: UConn AAUP Member Website | Membership Website
If you have not signed up for the membership site- please do so today! Use the link above to create a profile. The office will verify membership and then you will have access to the full site. This membership site is for dues paying member. Not a member? Join now!
SEBAC Survey Reminder
The 2017 SEBAC Agreement is set to expire on June 30, 2027. The SEBAC Agreement is our Pension and Healthcare Agreement which is negotiated by a coalition of state employee unions called the State Employee Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC). SEBAC and the Lamont Administration have begun informal discussions with a goal of reaching a successor agreement prior to the expiration. As we begin these discussions with the State, it is vital that your voice is heard.
Please take a few minutes to complete this survey by March 14th, 2025 and let us know what is important to you for our healthcare and pension agreement.
In addition to covering pension, healthcare, and retiree health benefits, the SEBAC Agreement covers other matters such as placement and training rights, telework, objective job evaluation (“OJE”), and rights to use sick days to pay for family medical leave.
As you fill out the survey, please keep in mind that this is about benefits related to the SEBAC Agreement, and NOT our union’s collective bargaining agreement which we are currently negotiating.
Click here to start the survey.
April 5th: Defending Higher Education Conference
On Saturday, April 5, 2025, join colleagues for a vital one-day conference on Defending Higher Education today.
There will be panels and presentations on academic freedom in the current moment, organizing strategies for collective bargaining and advocacy chapters, CT state legislative budgets, and more. An impressive roster of individuals will lead discussions.
Register by March 17: Use this link for registration form, program details, and more:.https://ctsc-aaup.org/Sp-2025-meeting/
Co-sponsored by Connecticut State Conference-AAUP, with support from all CT AAUP Chapters: Collective Bargaining, Advocacy, and At-large Member. Additional support is from an AAUP Conference Development Grant. This critically important event is hosted by the Wesleyan University-AAUP Chapter.