As part of the budgetary vision of the departing President Ted Carter, the Board of Regents (BOR) is requiring that UNK cut over $5 million from its biennium budget. To meet the demands of the Board of Regents, UNK’s administration is proposing to cut 30 faculty positions from 14 different departments and eliminate the departments of Geography, Philosophy, and Theater while removing the following degrees at UNK:
• Business Administration Comprehensive-Business Intelligence Emphasis BS
• Geography 7-12 Teaching Subject Endorsement
• Geography and GIScience BS
• Geography BS/BA
• Journalism BS/BA
• Modern Languages BA with French emphasis or German emphasis
• Montessori Early Childhood Education Minor
• Music Comprehensive in business emphasis BM
• Music Performance Comprehensive in instrumental emphasis BM
• Musical Theater Comprehensive BM
• Recreation Management BS
• Sports Communication BS/BA
• Theater BA
In addition, staff members from a range of divisions on our campus are also looking at major losses in personnel.
All of this will have a negative impact on the education of our students and on their ability to consider a wide range of professional careers.
As of today, UNK is the only campus in the NU system where its administration has called for faculty and staff terminations.
The administration’s proposal has been submitted to a Faculty Advisory Committee that will offer feedback on this proposal, but their role is solely an advisory one.
Why has the NU Board of Regents demanded budget cuts from UNK that will have such a damaging effect on our institution?
The Board of Regents has chosen to apply budgetary pressures on the NU system that are leading to these extreme reductions instead of evaluating how it has historically utilized NU resources or assessing the administrative leaders in charge of recruitment and enrollment on the different campuses that are all facing stagnant enrollment numbers for another year.
For example, during the almost four years that Ted Carter has been president at NU he has received approximately $400,000 more a year than his predecessor. In fact, in 2022, the Board of Regents extended Carter’s contract through 2027, giving him a 3% pay raise, bringing his annual salary to $964,000 a year. At UNK, the cabinet has enjoyed raises for multiple years that far outpace the raises that staff and faculty have received.
How many professors and lecturers at UNK have to be fired in order to find the money for the next NU president’s salary or for the six- and seven-figure salaries of the various Chancellors, Provosts, Associate Provosts, Senior Vice Chancellors, Associate Vice Chancellors, or Assistant Vice Chancellors etc., on our various campuses?
In the spirit of equity and fairness, UNKEA requests that the Board of Regents reconsider the demands that it is making which will result in scores of UNK employees being laid off and the elimination of several departments and multiple undergraduate majors. This not only represents great harm to these dedicated employees and our students but also will have a negative impact on the larger community of Central and Western Nebraska.
UNKEA is calling on members of the greater UNK community to contact President Carter, members of the Board of Regents, and State Senators asking them to oppose the cuts at UNK. The Board of Regents needs to reflect on how it has been using our resources and develop a new plan that does not require applying such pain on the human beings that are central to the mission of UNK while simultaneously undermining the education of the students we serve.
UNKEA Executive Committee
Will Avilés, President, avilesw1@unk.edu
Roger Davis, Vice-President, davisr@unk.edu
Kim Carlson, Treasurer, carlsonka1@unk.edu,
Jan Moore, Membership, mooreja2@unk.edu
Michelle Warren, Membership, warrenm2@unk.edu
Julie Lanz, Negotiator, lanzjj@unk.edu
Allen Thomas, Chief Negotiator, thomasaa@unk.edu
Chris Waples, Negotiator, waplescj@unk.edu
By Will Avilés
Kearney