Faculty, staff members and students walk out in protest of layoffs and furloughs at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Oct. 3, 2023. PC: Fox 11 Online
OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — UW-Oshkosh is laying off hundreds of employees, and furloughing most of its staff due to an $18 million dollar budget deficit.
Jim Feldman, professor of history and environmental studies, has been at UWO for 20 years.
“And I spent my entire career building this university and investing in the vision for higher education we have here, which is relationship with education where students and faculty get to know each other and build the future together,” said Feldman.
Feldman is currently on furlough. The university’s furlough period has been underway for almost a month.
He, along with other staff members, students and community members, gathered at UWO’s campus on Tuesday, to protest the university’s plan.
“It’s been a rough couple of years in higher education,” said Feldman. “The combination of declining enrollments and especially declining support from the state.”
In August, university leaders announced a plan to lay off employees representing more than 200 positions. For furloughs, the number of days is determined by an employee’s salary.
“We have been investing in administration, and not in students. Investing in administration, and not in education,” said Feldman.
Noah Ryan, a UW-Oshkosh senior, says these layoffs and furloughs will cause an increase in teaching load for faculty, which could impact students learning.
“The students are primarily here to raise awareness, but also to support the faculty,” said Ryan. “There’s going to be reoccurring issues happening if this isn’t addressed now.”
In a statement, Chancellor Andrew Leavitt says the university agrees that increased teaching loads should be used as a temporary measure to address the financial situation:
In most cases, this means that most faculty should anticipate at least a 21-credit load this academic year and should plan for a 24-credit load for 2024-25. It is my expectation that we will have our academic structure and workload fully reset and realigned no later than the end of the spring 2025 semester, at which point we would be positioned to revisit and begin a wider reinstating of course releases for research active faculty befitting the research enhanced university we are and will continue to be.
In a petition protesting the layoffs and furloughs, AFT-Wisconsin, a labor union, says the Chancellor should prioritize cuts to administrative positions and salaries over instructional and student support positions and salaries.
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