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Faculty Union Fact Sheet 2  3-3-09

Page history last edited by Jeremy 15 years ago

SFAI Faculty Union Fact Sheet 3.3.09

 

 

Finances

 

 

There is a general economic crisis but insufficient evidence in Bratton’s letter to alumni or in any documents he has presented to the faculty, students, or staff that SFAI is suffering a financial crisis.  In fact, President Bratton refuses to provide the very documentation that would give evidence to his claims that SFAI is facing financial difficulties.

 

 

According to an expert in institutional budget analysis, SFAI’s finances appear stable, almost exactly what would be expected, and demonstrate at the most a 2-3% budget deficit.  In President Bratton’s March 3, 2009 letter to alumni, he claims that, “We met our goal for the current semester and for fall 2009, we have already tripled our usual number of applications, due in part to innovative marketing and online application processing.  All indications point to a very strong fall.  Also, our corporate and philanthropic giving has continued to expand.”

 

If the financial crisis for SFAI is overstated; then President Bratton is simply using the general economic crisis as a cover for eliminating unionized faculty positions and unilaterally redesigning the curriculum.

 

 

Faculty Layoffs

 

 

Contrary to the contractual rights of faculty (and staff), President Bratton has laid of 25% of the tenured faculty, all of whom have been outstanding teachers at SFAI for 10 to 31 years and have collectively nurtured thousands of students to fine artistic careers.  And President Bratton has done this while failing to present a plan or guidelines for the course cancellations this will impose on students.

 

 

We can expect a cascade of effects from the lay offs of 9 tenured faculty:

 

 

1.) Courses will be eliminated and students will not be able to enroll in the courses they need to fulfill their degree requirements, thus delaying their graduation and costing them additional tuition.  Some students may lose their financial aid because they will not be able to enroll in the required number of units, thus further raising student expenses while costing the Institute revenues;

 

 

2.) Courses will be eliminated and enrollment caps for remaining courses will be raised, resulting in excessive student-faculty ratios, reduced opportunities for student participation in courses, and diminished access to faculty outside of class for personalized instruction and advice;

 

 

3.) Courses will be taught by other faculty, thus eliminating much of the salary savings from the layoffs, demonstrating that the real purpose of layoffs is not cost reduction but political targeting of faculty who have tried to protect the integrity and continuity of SFAI education by challenging the poorly-conceived plans of this administration;

 

 

4.) The special expertise of long-time faculty who have committed themselves to understanding and supporting students’ needs will be lost.  Alongside the shrinking and excessive turnovers of staff (approximately 135% full turnover in 4 out of 5 years of Bratton’s term)*, much of our institutional memory is in danger of being lost;

 

 

5.) Students will find decreased choices of faculty with whom to study in one-of-a-kind Directed Studies since non-tenured faculty generally do not accept Directed Studies;

 

 

6.) Students will have decreased access to crucial technical equipment in studios as a consequence of larger classes necessitated by fewer tenured Faculty;

 

 

7.) Morale will be affected as the stability and reliability of the curriculum is questioned.

 

 

The effects of SFAI’s actions are broader than the specifics of classroom instruction and the loss of valued Faculty:

 

 

-They impact academic freedom,

-trespass on labor laws,

-look a lot like classic union busting,

-and are exacerbated by inappropriate spending by administrators and by inflated administrators’ salaries and raises  (114% salary increases in some cases)**.

 

 

 

Tuition makes up 78% of SFAI’s budget and genuine power derivers from those who hold the purse strings.

 

 

 

*- Sourced from SFAI staff lists from past four years.

**-Sourced from SFAI Faculty Union Fact Sheet 1

 

<This document was transcribed from the original printed source by J. Menzies; no part has been altered, save for '*' and '**' passages added for additional information and reformatting for legibility on this webpage. Please feel free to contact the administrator of this page if you have any further questions.>

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