By: Audrey Sinclair and Corinne Duffy
Budget constraints from a smaller than anticipated enrollment has led St. Michael’s College to make layoffs before the launch of the academic year. The decisions to cut two staff director positions surprised students and faculty who worked with the Center for Women and Gender and the Center for Community Engaged Learning, and may hint at more cuts to come in the future.
Karen Talentino, vice president for academic affairs, said the layoffs were difficult but unavoidable. “Essentially, the board and the president told me that I needed to eliminate positions,” said Talentino. “We’re still anticipating a deficit budget this year, so we needed to reduce the payroll. These were not easy decisions.”
The layoffs of Micalee Sullivan, instructor of history and director of the Center of Women and Gender, and Joan Wagner, director of the Community of Engaged Learning and coordinator for Experiential Learning on campus, have affected academics and on campus experiences.
“I think there already is kind of a significant effect [on the community],” said Michael Bosia, associate professor of political science. “I think people who are concerned about diversity inclusion are discouraged. I think people who are committed to community based learning are at a loss and discouraged. I feel like LGBT students and young women in particular at the Center are uncertain about what kind of programming and what kind of continuity is going to exist.”
The layoffs were part of a larger plan to accommodate declining student enrollment. Smaller first year class sizes mean that the school will be receiving less money, Talentino explained. “It’s part of a coordinated plan to try to reduce the budget so that it is more in line with tuition, our source of revenue.”
Some professors of courses that integrate community engagement into their syllabus have expressed concern about the elimination of the director’s position. “It’s really disheartening because Joan [Wagner] has been a source of resources and knowledge and connections and experience that I have no ability to include community engaged learning in my classroom or research projects that involve local organizations with any confidence that we’re not going to become a location of burden for community organizations,” Bosia said, describing Wagner as the “gatekeeper” of these community connections. “Joan knew where we were, she knew where we had been, and she knew where students might be going.”
A committee has been asked to take an active role in picking up and sharing Wagner’s previous responsibilities, according to Talentino. The committee consists of: Greg Delanty, Professor of English, Adrie Kusserow, Professor of Anthropology, Raichle Farrelly, Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics, Lara Scott, Director of MOVE. and Patrick Gallivan, Vice President for Government and Community Affairs.
“St. Michael’s attracts people who care deeply about making positive impacts on the communities we serve. I have no doubt this will continue to happen in so many ways,” said Mary Beth Doyle, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, who has been tasked with some elements of Community Engagement after the layoff.
“The Center [for Women and Gender] was a really invaluable resource,” continued Bosia. “[It’s] a place where we bring different aspects of our community together and get to know each other, support each other, and to learn from each other. One of the things that Micalee did was provide both the encouragement and support and the continuity so that once that trust was developed, the students knew that they could trust the center.”
“I don’t really know if I will feel the same connection to the Center as I did when [Sullivan] was in charge,” said Izzy Lawrence ’19. “I am disappointed in the fact that the only connection I had to the Center was taken away from a job she seemed to really enjoy.”
Talentino said a group has also been assembled to take over Sullivan’s responsibilities at the Center. Details have yet to be finalized, but employees from the Bergeron Wellness Center, Student Life, and work study students will share the duties the Center needs to continue serving the community in the way that it has. These duties include answering the phone and email, welcoming guests, and helping with programming and events that take place there. In the past, not all programming was coordinated by Sullivan, and all of those events are welcomed to continue. Talentino said some of Sullivan’s personal programs may end, however, if no one steps forward to take that responsibility.
Gabby Elmoussaoui, a current graduate student studying clinical psychology at St. Michael’s, has been appointed the Coordinator for the Center for Women and Gender. This information was announced to the school on Monday evening via an email from Student Life. The email stated that Elmoussaoui will be leading programming at the Center through her employment as a Residence Life staff member and assistantship as a graduate student.
Talentino said she cannot predict any future layoffs because an option still stands for faculty to leave through the Voluntary Separation Package (VSP) that the school has offered. Tenured faculty have secure positions, so they are protected from being laid off unless the school declares financial exigency or eliminates their academic program. By contrast, a staff member may lose their job at any point.
“Our staff size is already at an appropriate level,” said Talentino. “We’re hoping that enough faculty will take that [VSP] option so that we won’t need to have any further layoffs. But the bottom line is we need to reduce our faculty to a size that is more in line with the number of students that we have.”