Ohio University faculty members are hosting a silent protest at the Board of Trustees meeting Friday, Jan. 17, to protest budget cuts.
OU’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, or AAUP, is urging faculty members to protest as the decisions “would significantly damage OHIO’s academic mission, cut faculty lines, and expand executive administrative bloat,” according to an AAUP press release.
The silent protest will start at 9:15 a.m. in front of Grover Hall. The group will then walk to Walter Hall Room 104 at 9:45 a.m., which is when the main board meeting is being held.
Board of Trustees meetings are open to the public and will be at Walter Hall Room 104.
“OU executive leadership have failed everyone but themselves,” Ted Wesler, an associate professor in sociology who has analyzed salary data, said in the press release. “OU execs created the fiscal crisis by increasing their own pay by 2.8 million every year over the last 4 years, resulting in overcharging students and cutting staff and faculty.”
The OU chapter of AAUP sent a letter to OU President Duane Nellis that asked him to tell the deans to stop their plans of laying off professors. Nellis has not responded to the letter, according to the press release.
The letter asked for him to “immediately and publicly announce a commitment to retain our Instructional Faculty,” according to the press release. It also asked to publicly commit to the protection of OU’s academic mission.
“We are protesting because faculty were never meaningfully included in the decision making process of this Fearlessly First strategic plan,” Loren Lybarger, president of OU-AAUP, said in the press release. “We are seeking meaningful faculty participation in decision-making processes.”
