By Jocelyn Visnov, Editor-in-Chief

Over 2,000 members of the Jasper community have signed a petition protesting the planned elimination of at least 34 tenured faculty positions. Students, alumni and family members are advocating on behalf of Manhattan College faculty, none of whom have gone on the record about the situation. 

The petition initiative is being spearheaded by Teresa Ramoni ‘20, who had been following recent announcements after the college decided to merge three of its six schools. Ramoni created the petition after learning some of her former professors may soon be terminated. 

“It has come to our attention that Manhattan College, under the current administration of President Milo Riverso, is planning on implementing a number of changes that would negatively impact Manhattan College’s first and oldest school, the School of Liberal Arts,” the petition reads. “In addition to previously announced decisions like school mergers and the cancellation of classes that do not adhere to new capacity requirements , Riverso’s administration plans to eliminate a number of tenured faculty according to a ‘last in first out’ system, a policy that disproportionately affects women and faculty of color and denies all tenured faculty the promise of job security that they worked so hard to achieve.” 

The Quadrangle spoke with Ramoni over a Google Meet interview. 

According to Ramoni, the administration had originally asked 34 tenured professors across SOLA, Kakos and SCPS to leave the college by signing “voluntary separation packages.” If the number was not met, then as many as 40 or more professors may be at risk of being terminated without severance packages at a later date beginning with those most recently hired according to a “last in, first out” policy.

While colleges and universities may choose to terminate tenured faculty due to financial reasons, Manhattan College is threatening to do so in a way which would be  a direct violation of both the faculty handbook guidelines and American Association of University Professors procedure. For example, as of now the college has failed to provide professors with adequate termination notice, has not offered them an alternative role within the college or guaranteed them health benefits and severance packages.

“So this is effectively asking professors to fire themselves,” Ramoni said. “And the mentality behind this is that these people [tenured professors] will be so afraid that they won’t get severance in the future that they will fire themselves now.” 

The current proposed eliminations target tenured professors in the current SOLA, SCPS and Kakos School of Science. However, according to a document that accompanied the Voluntary Separation Package offer, no faculty member or department across the college is safe from future layoffs. The Quadrangle obtained a copy of this document. 

“Nothing in this Program [the Voluntary Separation Program] should be deemed to constitute a promise of continued employment for any particular duration,” the document said.“The college will make future decisions on staffing needs based upon economic conditions, and there is no promise that there will be any separation incentive or severance provided should there be a reduction in force.” 

The message then stated that “the following academic departments may be impacted in the future,” followed by a list of 21 academic departments across nearly all schools, including several majors within the School of Engineering. 

According to the document, programs which may lose additional faculty in the future include: art history, digital media art, biology, chemical engineering, civil engineering, environmental engineering, communication, counseling, education, electrical engineering, English, history, kinesiology, mathematics, mechanical engineering, modern languages, music and theater, philosophy, physics, political science, psychology, religious studies, sociology and criminology.  

Amidst the economic struggles that have already led to layoffs and deep budget cuts, very few faculty members have actually seen the college’s financial records, adding to frustrations around lack of transparency with the community. 

“I’ve been told that the administration is only communicating with faculty through a legal team and they’re not being direct about this at all,” Ramoni said. 

While colleges and universities across the country are currently facing financial challenges as a result of the pandemic and decreased college enrollment numbers, Manhattan College has not provided financial documentation to support the idea that faculty termination is the best solution. Enrollment at Manhattan College alone has decreased by 20% since 2018.

Retired executives who oversaw the financial decline are still being paid by the college. According to a source with documentation who wishes to remain anonymous, the college’s Chief Financial Officer, James Perrino, shared a spreadsheet at a faculty governance meeting that indicated over $2 million is being paid to at least five retired administrators in “employment contract benefits” with another $1 million budgeted for the next academic year towards paying two of those administrators alone.  

“They’re still paying President O’Donnell, they’re paying the former CFO and these are the people who allegedly got the college into this financial mess,” Ramoni added. “So while we don’t know the names of everyone on that list, we [MC alumni] know that the annual sum those individuals are getting is $2 million, the rough equivalent of 20 tenured professors’ salaries.” 

In addition to declining revenue from tuition and room and board, administrators shared at a faculty meeting on Nov. 7 that upon taking office at the beginning of the academic year, they uncovered a number of unexpected debts to be paid off, according to a faculty member present at the meeting who requested to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation. The Riverso administration has not publicly announced the size or nature of those debts. 

Despite several requests from the Quadrangle, numerous faculty members have declined to comment on the record about the matter. President Milo Riverso, Ph.D., also declined requests for comment. Instead, Lydia Gray, Assistant Vice President for College Advancement, provided the following statement to The Quadrangle in September: 

“The College is reviewing its current resources and exploring opportunities to reduce operating costs and realize greater operational efficiencies. We are not unlike many colleges and universities who, at this time, are facing decreases in enrollment, increasing costs and are examining their finances and resources, given budgetary pressures. The College is using a strategic approach that embraces innovation, improvement of service and growth.  We also are considering the long-range planning impacts of our decisions that will assure financial sustainability for the institution while supporting all aspects of the College’s Lasallian mission.”

In a statement from the Faculty Welfare Committee (FWC), which went out to professors in June, the FWC wrote that the college’s financial difficulties are occurring due to “the unrelenting, unrealistic optimism that has marked Manhattan College’s administration over the last decade,” the email wrote. “Instead of planning realistically, unreliable budgeting and unwillingness to deal with bad news led the College’s administration to abandon most strategic planning as it went from crisis to crisis.”

The petition protesting faculty layoffs urges the Jasper community to take action and write to administrators, and has gained over 2,000 signatures in just under three weeks since its creation. 

“The decision to remove tenured faculty is a clear demonstration of the lack of care for students and faculty on behalf of administration,” wrote MC alum Rory Graham beneath the petition. “While it is expected that changes were to be made due to financial hardships caused by the pandemic, this decision sets a dangerous and disheartening precedent for the next phase of Manhattan College.”