In response to plans that would terminate essential faculty and slash millions of dollars from key University of Evansville academic programs, a diverse group of UE faculty has joined the American Association of University Professors and launched a campaign named Save UE!
Shortly before classes began, UE President Christopher M. Pietruskiewicz told faculty about the planned cuts, the exact details of which still are being determined. Save UE has two goals. The first is to inform students, parents, alumni, staff, emeriti faculty, board members, and community members of the impact such cuts would have on the academic quality of a school recently named one of the top five Regional Universities in the Midwest by US News and World Report. The second goal of the campaign is to give faculty members a voice in shaping the cuts. This would allow them to work to minimize the impact of those cuts on students and the overall academic quality of the university.
Repeated requests from faculty for a seat at the table have gone unmet, and this has caused the majority of UE’s faculty to join the AAUP. UE’s administration has said it intends to conduct its cuts with no significant involvement from faculty and has also refused to share any data or criteria for making these cuts with faculty members. Cuts will be made by the end of the Fall 2020 semester.
The SAVE UE campaign is directed at the university’s administration and demands the following:
• The implementation of AAUP best practices for shared governance
• The following of AAUP guidelines for changes that alter or remove academic programs and
faculty positions
• The presence of elected faculty members in all groups and committees related to the program
evaluation process
• The sharing of program data between the administration and the faculty
• The use of criteria to which the faculty and the administration both assent within the program
evaluation process
UE’s AAUP members ask students, parents, alumni, staff, faculty, emeriti faculty, UE board members,
and everyone in the community visit the SAVE UE campaign website to learn more about how they can
help. By restoring the shared governance envisioned in the University of Evansville’s founding
document, we can Save UE and so truly face the future unafraid!
To learn more:
• Visit our website at saveue.com • Follow us on Facebook at Save UE
• Follow us on Twitter at @Save_UE • Follow us on Instagram at save.ue
• E-mail us at ueaaup@gmail.com
