Dear members,
Some of you may have heard about an email exchange between President Sullivan and UA leadership. I am copying the emails below for your information.
All best,
Sarah Alexander
President, United Academics
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Dear President Sullivan:
Thank you for your email and for the opportunity to respond to you and the others copied about your concerns. We have heard from many in the university community, students and faculty, both within and outside the bargaining unit, about the following issues of critical concern:
the non-renewals and reductions to the FTE of faculty in CAS, the proposed increase to course capacities in CAS with its far ranging impacts on the morale and work life of faculty, both those directly affected by these changes and those indirectly so, and on the education of the students we serve;
the presidential search process that has, in spite of the open search process outlined last year, resulted in inviting a single finalist to campus and the delay in informing the university community about this change until February, a change that negatively affects both the shared governance and transparency that we value on this campus;
the exclusion of United Academics, an organization that represents the vast majority of faculty at UVM, 623 of which are its members, from the smaller meetings with Dr. Garimella.
As a result of these concerns, we invite all community members to attend a rally and teach-in on Thursday at noon on the green between the Howe Library and the Davis Center. Secondly, we encourage faculty, staff, and students to attend the forum with Dr. Garimella to ask their questions and articulate their concerns to him directly.
We welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss any and all of these concerns. We also hope that as leaders of the faculty union, we will be invited to meet with Dr. Garimella, as have many other student and faculty groups.
Sincerely,
Sarah Alexander and Julie Roberts
President and President-elect, United Academics