YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University’s faculty union is requesting that all decisions regarding academic program cuts or reductions be postponed until a comprehensive review of all divisions is conducted.

“The (Academic) Senate is right to ask for this. If the administration wants to make changes and possible cuts based on cost / benefit data, then all divisions of the university should be subject to the same processes,” Susan Clutter, president of the YSU-Ohio Education Association, said.

Clutter was referring to the main thrust of an April 30 letter the Academic Senate sent to the administration asking it to apply those same evaluation measures it’s using for the academic division to every facet of YSU.

In the correspondence, Chet Cooper, the Academic Senate’s chairman, expressed concern that the decreasing pool of Mahoning Valley high school graduates — largely because of an overall population decline in the region — will translate into lower enrollment numbers at YSU and other universities, and will require YSU to make certain adjustments soon to remain solvent.

Consequently, the university hired Concord, Mass.-based Gray Associates Inc. to help the administration make “data-informed decisions about all of our academic programs” which, presumably, would aid in the university’s efforts to examine, among other things, “the cost effectiveness of various programs while also identifying areas for cutting or greater investment,” the letter states.

Specifically, Gray Associates will be tasked with evaluating all nonacademic units, such as athletics, and examining their impact on student recruitment, retention and success, as well as evaluating administrative structures and organizations for their efficiency, according to the letter.

In addition, it’s imperative that the administration extend such an assessment into all university activities and services so that decisions it makes are based on YSU’s entire fiscal situation, the YSU-OEA union said.

“Unless YSU has a clear understanding of the return on investment of its nonacademic units … then the administration cannot in good faith claim to be making data-informed decisions about YSU’s future,” the letter also states.

In addition, the correspondence calls for the administration and board of trustees to delay any decisions on reducing or eliminating programs, faculty or both until an across-the-board comprehensive review is completed.

In a related matter last week, a majority of faculty members who voted on a proposal said they would support a voluntary separation and retirement program.

The YSU Board of Trustees has approved a resolution supporting the program.

The program, which is a collaboration between trustees and the union, will give certain full-time tenured faculty, many of whom retire after 30 years, an opportunity to separate their employment from YSU and receive a possible buyout or other incentive.

“As the university continues to move forward on the Plan for Strategic Actions to Take Charge of our Future and makes a commitment to academic program enhancement, this resolution allows us to establish a program to create the opportunity to compensate our dedicated faculty members, while also making the academic changes necessary to guide YSU into the future,” YSU President Jim Tressel said in a statement.

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