Correction: The Clarion made edits to clarify how the student experience will be impacted. A quote from Interim Dean Rachel Walsh was added to show how only one unit of the new generalized CAHSS team will be “student facing.”

To deal with the current $11 million budget deficit, the DU administration has asked all academic and non-academic units to identify where they can make cuts and save money. In addition to cuts it is making this year to address the current deficit, The College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS) is being asked to prepare for future deficits by reducing its operating budget by $8 million over the next few years. 

Provost Mary Clark told the Clarion on Friday that 200 fewer students are enrolled in the current freshman class than expected, which has largely contributed to the fiscal deficit. According to Clark, the multi-year cuts at CAHSS are a pre-emptive response to smaller entering undergraduate classes moving forward.

On Friday, DU leadership told the 21 department chairs of CAHSS to prepare for “profound changes” over at least the next four years. 

Chad Leahy, the chair of the Spanish department, believes that there is no possible outcome in which CAHSS cuts 8 million dollars from its operating budget and avoids more layoffs and program cuts.

“I have deep concerns that the $8 million in cuts would not just negatively impact the experiences of students in the Spanish [department], but, I’m afraid, would potentially mean that we no longer offer a major in Spanish here at the University of Denver,” Leahy said. “There is very little left to cut at CAHSS. Our budget is already very efficient, and we’re among the financially strongest units on campus,” he continued.

Jing Sun, the chair of the Political Science department, said that the university asked professors to prepare for major changes, but DU wasn’t specific about what exactly to prepare for. He says the university is planning a major “restructuring” of CAHSS.

“Such changes could mark a major shift for CAHSS, likely resulting in faculty departures, a reduction in course offerings and increasing difficulty for faculty to balance research and teaching amid ongoing disruptions and cuts to research funding,” Sun said.

Clark told the Clarion that the university is trying to reduce the level of required CAHSS cuts from the originally anticipated $8 million figure over the next few years.

While the university administration has made savings by reducing the travel plans of both the Chancellor’s and Provost’s offices, it has no plans to reduce the compensation levels for senior leadership positions to address the budget deficit. Chancellor Jeremy Haefner’s compensation remains over $1 million dollars.

Last week, the Clarion reported that DU made seven layoffs in departments across the university. Three staff members were laid off at CAHSS, one each at the Chancellor’s office and University College, and two at the Korbel School of International Studies.

In addition to the layoffs, 15 staff members at CAHSS, whose roles were to provide individualized support to professors and students in each major, are being restructured into a centralized team. 

Some professors say they were caught off guard by this fundamental structural change. “It’s clear that most, if not all, chairs and directors were completely blindsided in this move,” Sun said. 

Rachel Walsh, Interim Dean for CAHSS, told the Clarion on Friday that the decision had been made with faculty input, contradicting the views of department heads.

“Faculty have been a part of the administrative task force since 2021, chairs have been a part of different budget deciding groups over the years as well,” Walsh said. “We have had numerous administrative task forces, numerous opportunities for design sessions and feedback and numerous moments to gather information from our community,” Walsh explained. 

Professors view the timing and secretive nature of the announcements as indicative of a strategy to undermine faculty objections. Both announcements were made during or around the recent presidential election and just before the second longest academic break of the year. 

Sun says that these factors have contributed to a loss of morale among CAHSS faculty and trust in DU’s leadership.

The new restructured team will feature three different units, business and operations, enrollment services and marketing and communications. So far the Clarion has learned that only one unit will be student facing. “The enrollment services team will be the student facing unit,” said Walsh.

This is a stark difference to the prior system, in which every departmental assistant had student facing roles.

Walsh and Clark both insisted the cuts, layoffs and restructuring the university is asking CAHSS to make won’t affect the student experience.

For instance, Walsh wants the new centralized support team to continue meeting face to face with departments further away from Sturm. This way, she says, departments like music, theater and journalism can continue to receive specialized support.

“We are attempting to center the student experience and not lose that personal touch,” Walsh said.

Provost Clark told the Clarion no other budget cuts or layoffs will follow as the 2024-25 academic year continues.