Senators, students press officials

Students, faculty and staff grilled top administrators at a University Senate meeting yesterday, using the opportunity to voice concerns about the impact of budget cuts and to demand more input in the administrative process.

Provost Nariman Farvardin said he welcomes suggestions regarding cost-saving strategies and how to best distribute budget cuts. But several in attendance yesterday said there is a lack of transparency when it comes to financial matters and  that they cannot access the information necessary to give meaningful feedback.

"I can tell you that trust is eroding. And it doesn't have to do with the budget cuts per se," Vicky Foxworth, director of the Center for Leadership and Organizational Change, said at yesterday's meeting. "It has to do with the processes. They are not inclusive as you believe they are, as you want them to be, as you need them to be to keep this campus going the way you want it to go."

State budget cuts have piled up since the summer, forcing the university to trim $40 million from its coffers — in part by laying off staff, cutting programs and considering restructuring colleges.

Most recently, in what administrators insist was a budget-driven decision, the university removed Associate Provost for Equity and Diversity Cordell Black from his post, spurring student backlash that led to a 600-person protest on the mall last week.

Farvardin has said the university is committed to saving its most vital programs, but several who spoke expressed concern about the impact departmental cuts and mergers could have on academic quality.

"In my college, there is a lot of distress about diversity programs that really don't belong together being put together," said English professor Martha Nell Smith, referencing the possible merger of African American studies, American studies, women's studies and LGBT studies in the arts and humanities college.

Farvardin said there will always be those unhappy with the university's decisions.

"Ultimately, you have to return a certain portion of the budget back to the state," he said. "Something has to go. We have reached the point that any decision is painful now.

"We will have to use our collective wisdom," Farvardin added. "I don't think anybody in higher education can give you a benchmark as to how to do budget cuts, but I'm very open to receiving suggestions if they are good suggestions."

Many in attendance said they want to offer suggestions, but do not have the resources to make them nor the opportunities to present them.

Malcolm Harris, a student activist and Diamondback columnist, asked Farvardin and Vice President for Administrative Affairs Ann Wylie for specific budget documents that are not publicly accessible. Although the university's budget is available online, students have maintained the 900-page document is unintelligible and university administrators must be using other information to plan cuts.

Farvardin said he has provided his budget documents to his personal advisory committee that meets behind closed doors, but added he would try to make the information more widely available by posting it online.

More than 100 students crowded the senate meeting to engage in conversation and ask the provost about Black's removal, student involvement and the justification of cutting and consolidating "low-achieving" programs and departments.

Faculty also shared their concerns with the provost about Black's dismissal.

"I thought the very last thing cut would be the associate provost for equity and diversity," history professor Art Eckstein said.

Referring to Black as his friend, Farvardin emphasized the decision to remove Black was a "direct consequence of budget cuts." He said the move was necessary to protect the Nyumburu Cultural Center, the Office of Multi-ethnic Student Education and the Office of LGBT Equity — all departments Black oversees.

"It was a very difficult decision for me to make, and ultimately I decided it was my responsibility to try and fully protect the personnel and the services of those three offices that serve our students on a regular basis," Farvardin said.

Though the provost addressed some student concerns during the meeting, others said afterward they felt Farvardin largely ignored them.

"We had a number of questions he did not respond to," Community Roots  Co-President Jazz Lewis said. "Clearly, there's an issue because we're out here."

Farvardin said the student presence at the meeting was powerful, but added he was "disheartened" by what he called a misunderstanding of the situation.

cox at umdbk dot com, hampton at umdbk dot com