Changes

While I was trampling around in the Wisconsin woods last Friday, some very unexpected major changes happened at Large College. Five administrative positions, ranging from a lower-level student services position to a dean-level position, were eliminated. Out of these five positions, one was a firing and the others were layoffs (they dissolved the positions). Additionally, over the last four months, there were three other admins who were fired (two of which were let go for somewhat ridiculous reasons).

When all of the admin positions that exist on our campus are actually filled, we operate with a staff of approximately fifty (plus another 60ish instructors). For the past two years, we've been operating with about thirty. With the latest cuts, we're almost down to twenty... twenty people left to deal with eight hundred students. Some of the recent eliminations have to do with budget issues (the student body is significantly smaller than it was a year ago), but most are a result of multiple audits that occurred because of the senate hearings and the increased attention the school has received. To top it off, we're in the middle of the term and about to switch over to a completely new grading system (great idea to do that in the middle of the term, right?). There were two people that were trained on the new system last month - and yes, both of those people were laid off/fired last week.

As usual, there has been no discussion or even an acknowledgement of these changes from the higher-ups. Whenever there are negative/difficult changes, they tend to pretend like nothing happened - staff meetings are put on hold until they feel an acceptable amount of time has passed. Until that time comes, they hide behind their closed office doors and/or take vacations until the initial shock and confusion dies down. When they do finally acknowledge the changes, they do it by sending out an email to introduce the employees who were hired to replace the ones who left (this even happened when the president left!). Of course, this only happens if the positions are filled by new people - if they don't fill them, there usually isn't any acknowledgement of the changes.

Needless to say, things are completely fucked up right now. Well, things are always fucked up at LC, but now... well, it has moved to a entirely new level. As I've said before, I'm happy to be employed, especially at a time when full-time faculty positions are hard to come by, but LC is definitely not the ideal school for so many reasons. The latest changes are just another drop in the (disorganized, botched, mishandled, sometimes unethical) bucket.