Dublin Core
Title
Rutgers to lay off all writing adjunct professors in 2021
Subject
Rutgers-New Brunswick to lay off all writing adjunct professors in 2021
Description
Newspaper article about the announcement that the Rutgers-New Brunswick writing program will lay off 100% of their adjunct professors in Spring 2021 term. Rutgers-NB later pulled back from this decision, under union pressure and perhaps due to practical considerations about who, absent adjuncts, would teach all of these writing classes.
Creator
Bob Makin
Source
my central jersey
Publisher
my central jerseyS
Date
September 29, 2020
Language
English
Coverage
New Brunswick, New Jersey
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
Rutgers to lay off all writing adjunct professors in 2021
Bob Makin
Bridgewater Courier News
President Jonathan Holloway called for a new way forward on labor-management negotiations during his first address to the Rutgers University Senate on Friday, the same day the writing department on the New Brunswick campus announced the lay off all adjunct professors.
While Holloway said he has made it clear to his senior management team to approach negotiations from the standpoint of collaboration, near full state appropriations recently granted have not compensated for a significant drop in revenue lost to the pandemic, according to the university.
“Although the restoration of the proposed cut to the state appropriation is helpful, our fiscal situation is still dire with the dramatic loss of tuition, housing, dining and other revenues,” university spokesperson Dory Devlin said.
David Letwin, center, of the Part-Time Lecturers Faculty Council-AAUP-AFT spoke at the March4RLivesRJobsRSchools through downtown New Brunswick on Saturday in opposition of the forthcoming layoffs of 100 more adjunct professors at Rutgers University.
Throughout the spring, the university also lost significant revenue from stalled scientific research and canceled elective medical procedures, according to financial records. As a result, most university staff members have been furloughed monthly since July. Since April, the university also has cut about 1,000 jobs, including more than 300 adjuncts across its three campuses.
David Winters, vice president of PTLFC-AAUP-AFT Local 6324, the Rutgers union representing about a third of the university's 3,000 part-time lecturers, said Holloway addressing collaborative labor negotiations the same day 100 more layoffs were announced was not surprising.
“Holloway appears to be acting consistently with his history as provost at Northwestern, where he was part of the core strategic group that fought successfully against an adjunct organizing drive by SEIU local 73 in Chicago,” Winters said.
On Saturday, several hundred Rutgers faculty, staff, students, and other community members participated in a protest of the layoffs and several other issues for which the university recently has come under fire.
At a rally that preceded a march, David Letwin of the Part-Time Lecturers Faculty Council-AAUP-AFT said, “The administration decided to throw out of work as many as 100 dedicated, underpaid, vulnerable teaching faculty who are carrying out the core mission of this university under extraordinary circumstances at a time when finding similar employment is nearly impossible. And PTLs are not the only ones facing this situation. Other vulnerable Rutgers employees, often of color, have already lost their jobs.”
“President Holloway is this how you treat what you have called your ‘beloved community?’” Letwin continued. “We are angered, but we are not surprised. This summary termination reflects the administration’s top-down, you-are-disposable, we-are-all-powerful, and we-can-do-what-we-want-when-we-want-to-anyone-we-want-without-any-consequences attitude.”
March4RLivesRJobsRSchools through downtown New Brunswick also aimed to reduce university tuition and fees, stand for racial equity, stand for climate justice, settle all union contracts, and save Lincoln Annex School. The elementary school of predominantly Latino students is slated for demolition soon to make way for an $805 million expansion for the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey that includes a tax-free replacement school on Jersey Avenue.
Despite the protests, Holloway does deliver hope, members of the university community said.
In his senate address, he also said, “Any negotiator who is driven by a desire to win is not paying attention to the fact that we are all on the same team. In my conversations with labor leaders, I have said the same thing: we need to find ways to work together.”
Email: bmakin@gannettnj.com
Bob Makin
Bridgewater Courier News
President Jonathan Holloway called for a new way forward on labor-management negotiations during his first address to the Rutgers University Senate on Friday, the same day the writing department on the New Brunswick campus announced the lay off all adjunct professors.
While Holloway said he has made it clear to his senior management team to approach negotiations from the standpoint of collaboration, near full state appropriations recently granted have not compensated for a significant drop in revenue lost to the pandemic, according to the university.
“Although the restoration of the proposed cut to the state appropriation is helpful, our fiscal situation is still dire with the dramatic loss of tuition, housing, dining and other revenues,” university spokesperson Dory Devlin said.
David Letwin, center, of the Part-Time Lecturers Faculty Council-AAUP-AFT spoke at the March4RLivesRJobsRSchools through downtown New Brunswick on Saturday in opposition of the forthcoming layoffs of 100 more adjunct professors at Rutgers University.
Throughout the spring, the university also lost significant revenue from stalled scientific research and canceled elective medical procedures, according to financial records. As a result, most university staff members have been furloughed monthly since July. Since April, the university also has cut about 1,000 jobs, including more than 300 adjuncts across its three campuses.
David Winters, vice president of PTLFC-AAUP-AFT Local 6324, the Rutgers union representing about a third of the university's 3,000 part-time lecturers, said Holloway addressing collaborative labor negotiations the same day 100 more layoffs were announced was not surprising.
“Holloway appears to be acting consistently with his history as provost at Northwestern, where he was part of the core strategic group that fought successfully against an adjunct organizing drive by SEIU local 73 in Chicago,” Winters said.
On Saturday, several hundred Rutgers faculty, staff, students, and other community members participated in a protest of the layoffs and several other issues for which the university recently has come under fire.
At a rally that preceded a march, David Letwin of the Part-Time Lecturers Faculty Council-AAUP-AFT said, “The administration decided to throw out of work as many as 100 dedicated, underpaid, vulnerable teaching faculty who are carrying out the core mission of this university under extraordinary circumstances at a time when finding similar employment is nearly impossible. And PTLs are not the only ones facing this situation. Other vulnerable Rutgers employees, often of color, have already lost their jobs.”
“President Holloway is this how you treat what you have called your ‘beloved community?’” Letwin continued. “We are angered, but we are not surprised. This summary termination reflects the administration’s top-down, you-are-disposable, we-are-all-powerful, and we-can-do-what-we-want-when-we-want-to-anyone-we-want-without-any-consequences attitude.”
March4RLivesRJobsRSchools through downtown New Brunswick also aimed to reduce university tuition and fees, stand for racial equity, stand for climate justice, settle all union contracts, and save Lincoln Annex School. The elementary school of predominantly Latino students is slated for demolition soon to make way for an $805 million expansion for the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey that includes a tax-free replacement school on Jersey Avenue.
Despite the protests, Holloway does deliver hope, members of the university community said.
In his senate address, he also said, “Any negotiator who is driven by a desire to win is not paying attention to the fact that we are all on the same team. In my conversations with labor leaders, I have said the same thing: we need to find ways to work together.”
Email: bmakin@gannettnj.com
Original Format
newspaper article