Local

UPDATE | YSU faculty union denounces possible cuts in up to 11 departments

By Mahoning Matters staff
The sign outside Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio.
William D. Lewis | Mahoning Matters

The union representing faculty at Youngstown State University on Tuesday criticized possible cuts to programs and faculty in up to 11 departments.

“It’s impossible to overstate how much chaos this creates for our students,” YSU-OEA President Mark Vopat said in a news release. “Our courses and programs should be our top priority as a university. Instead, YSU’s administration is taking a hatchet to education while refusing to address administrative bloat and overspending on athletics.”

Provost Brien Smith announced the possible cuts Monday in a letter to faculty.

The 11 departments listed by Smith as “areas for possible actions for retrenchment and/or non-renewal” are:

  • Department of Accounting and Finance;

  • Department of Art;

  • Department of Communication;

  • Department of Criminal Justice and Consumer Sciences;

  • Dana School of Music and Theatre;

  • Department of English & World Languages;

  • Department of Health Professions;

  • Department of Humanities and Social Sciences;

  • Department of Mathematics and Statistics;

  • Department of PAGES;

  • Department of Teacher Education and Leadership Studies.

Smith sought to “provide some clarity” in an email to students Tuesday evening, according to a news release from the university.

“This list does not necessarily indicate entire departments, programs or majors will be impacted,” Smith said in the email. “However, if a decision is made to terminate a major, YSU has a commitment to all of its students to provide them with the opportunity to graduate with the courses needed to be successful in their chosen field.”

In his letter to faculty, Smith pointed to a drop in enrollment and an “associated decline in revenue” as reasons for action.

“Given the direct, negative impact declining enrollment has on the university’s revenue, it is imperative that we continue to contain costs, reduce low-demand academic programs, invest in programs with growth potential and expand initiatives that foster student success,” Smith and Vice President Neal McNally wrote in an earlier letter to faculty.

Last year, the university sunsetted 26 programs.

“This makes two years in a row that YSU has turned first to our programs and professors to make cuts,” Vopat said. “Administration is using preliminary numbers and estimates to make permanent and damaging cuts to academic offerings at YSU.”

This story was originally published September 20, 2022 at 4:50 PM.