Resolution #1718-13
A Resolution Regarding the Closing of Graduate Programs
BE IT ENACTED BY THE REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY HERE GATHERED THAT:
WHEREAS, the Task Force on Academic Program Analysis, Enhancement and Opportunities recommended closing 27 graduate programs including Agricultural Education, Art History & Archaeology, Classical Studies, Nuclear Engineering, Romance Languages, Biochemistry, Medical Pharmacology & Physiology, Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Nutrition, Pathobiology, Rural Sociology, Applied Mathematics, Clinic & Diagnostic Sciences, Dispute Resolution, Personal Financial Planning, and Religious Studies, which includes programs vital to the interdisciplinary work conducted by members of the CGW bargaining unit; and
WHEREAS, the interconnectedness of scholarship and of graduate education means that program closings have wide-reaching deleterious effects on scholars outside the programs at risk of being closed; and
WHEREAS, the data provided by Academic Analytics, which was instrumental to the recommendation to close 27 programs, has justifiably been called into question by the general faculty body; and
WHEREAS, times of dire financial straits are not justification for acting hastily and violating the rights of university workers; and
WHEREAS, the ideals of self-governance necessitate that faculty and graduate students have a say in policies that directly impact them; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Stephen Karian set forth a petition requesting an opportunity for faculty to voice displeasure to the Chancellor about the task force process, resulting in a general faculty meeting held on March 5, 2018 to address these potential program closures, wherein the faculty passed a motion calling for greater transparency and accountability in this process; THEREFORE BE IT
RESOLVED, by consensus of the representatives here gathered that the Coalition of Graduate Workers supports the motion proposed by Dr. Andrew Hoberek and passed by the general faculty on March 5, 2018, which calls for an opportunity to correct inaccuracies and calls for budgetary justification for all department closures or mergers and job cuts that primarily affect already vulnerable non-tenure-track faculty; and be it further
RESOLVED, that, in addition Dr. Hoberek’s call for faculty input, the Coalition of Graduate Workers calls on the administration of the University of Missouri to provide for meaningful input by graduate students moving forward; and be it further
RESOLVED, that, in the event of any program closures or reorganizations, CGW calls upon the University to honor the offers of employment originally made by their initial academic units; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the Coalition of Graduate Workers opposes the continued budgetary cuts imposed on the university by the Missouri legislature and by Governor Greitens that have precipitated the proposed closings; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the Coalition of Graduate Workers calls on Chancellor Cartwright and all other administrators to uphold the university core values of Respect, Responsibility, Discovery, and Excellence by refusing to respond to the aforementioned budget crises rashly and without key information, which would hurt individual MU community members in the short term and the entire MU community in the long run.
SUBMITTED,
The Representative from the Department of English, Zach Rubin, Head Representative, and Eric Scott, Co-Chair
APPROVED BY THE REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY, APRIL 11, 2018.
Coalition of Graduate Workers 