On Nov. 8, Provost Mary Clark sat down with the Undergraduate Student Government to answer questions about free speech on campus. At the end of the night, with 30 minutes remaining, she opened the discussion to address the current budget cuts in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS).
Three CAHSS administrative staff members have been laid off and 15 are scrambling to apply for new generalized jobs or leave CAHSS, effective Nov. 15. Under the previous program there was a little under one staff member representing each department. Provost Clark began the discussion by stating that the budget cuts were due to low enrollment in both the undergraduate and graduate programs at CAHSS.
Over the last two years, CAHSS has received multiple budget cuts. Last year the faculty senate reported that Sturm received a substantial budget cut. The provost has put a freeze on the English department to hire new faculty for positions that remain vacant. This is not the first action that the administration has taken to cut CAHSS.
At the meeting, I expressed my concerns with how administration is framing the CAHSS layoffs.
“It seems that because of the continued budget cuts we are receiving a less attractive school and college,” I said, “and that reflects on enrollment, so this seems like this is a rolling problem fostered by administration’s cuts, not by the CAHSS programs.”
“That is why I am seeking to develop new programs,” Clark responded, “that drive demand.”
Although the administration at DU has shown little desire to develop its existing programs within CAHSS, and even goes so far as to dramatically cut them, the Provost already has plans to create new programs that “drive demand.” Clark demonstrates that the administration will only permit CAHSS to thrive under the condition that they somehow boost enrollment while receiving massive cuts.
The University of Denver’s spending policy allows them to use a percentage of the value of their endowment decided by the board of trustees. In June of 2023, the endowment’s value price of investments and other assets was over $1 billion.
In the university’s Financial Report, as of June 30, 2023, the administration reported being permitted to spend 4.5% of the endowment. They dedicated 94% of their spending budget to “functions that support the University’s academic mission” and 6% to support “administrative functions.”
Administrative functions that continue to degrade our community.
From where I stand, the University of Denver is receiving less enrollment because it has significantly cut its student services while bolstering ineffective community programs.
Last year $4.5 million went into the “4D Experience” and $3.1 million went to the Kennedy Mountain Campus. The 2022 IRS990 form reported that $7.8 million went to the chancellor and provost’s cabinets alone. The gluttonous spending habits of the administration have allowed campus life to significantly degrade, while our education takes the fall.
The general outcry of the community is that the “4D Experience” has done nothing to our education or life on campus; most students could not describe what “4D” actually entails. The Kennedy Mountain Campus is practically inaccessible to students unless they are taking their First Ascent trip, which happens once in the four years they are at the university. Most students express general distrust in the administration’s ability to represent them.
Clark’s responses to the community’s anxieties about CAHSS demonstrate the administration’s true colors. DU’s administration has been running the university like a business; not so well I might add. The enrollment continues to take a sharp decline as the administration continues to fund efforts that have proven, over the last two years, to be unsuccessful with the students at DU. All the while our education takes the brunt of the budget cuts; expecting CAHSS to run at its highest caliber while the administration cannot even provide meals that do not give us food poisoning.
How can DU be a competing liberal arts school as it continues to cut and undermine its liberal arts? How can DU be a competing college as it continues to mismanage community programs?
On all fronts, the student body, the staff and the faculty have no confidence in the administration’s current handling of the university’s spending. The students and faculty have come together to demonstrate their disillusionment toward the chancellor and the provost’s actions by holding a vote of no confidence.
If you are a student, please reach out to your parents, let them know what is happening and sign the “no confidence” petition. If you are a community member and you want to represent your outrage please send an email to boardoftrustees@du.edu.
We remain stronger in solidarity. Together we will protect our school.
