SCSU Faculty Association Protesting Layoffs with March

ST. CLOUD -- The St. Cloud State University Faculty Association and supporters will march on campus next Tuesday in opposition to the recent layoffs affecting eight tenured faculty members.

The layoffs, formally known as retrenchments, were officially issued on Sept. 16. They were given to four members of the university library, three from the Philosophy department and one from the Theater program.

The cuts equate to a cost savings of $840,000, roughly eight percent of the university's overall $8.6 million budget deficit.

Retrenched faculty are expected to leave the university by the end of the academic year.

In an email to WJON, Faculty Association members denounced the retrenchments, calling them "short-sighted, unacceptable and directly antithetical" to St. Cloud State's values.

"We remain dedicated to share with students - past and present - the harsh reality of how little value this administration has for the significant contributions the university library and College of Liberal Arts make in educating our students," they write.

"My hope is that (the march) generates a greater sense of solidarity and support for each other, as faculty," says Faculty Association President Dr. Frances Kayona. She adds, while all of the details of the march aren't yet finalized, she's confident it will unify the campus community.

"There's something about a march. For a little bit, our hearts are beating to the same drum. Our footsteps, our thinking ... it brings everybody together. We're all in sync. And I'm hoping that's what this march accomplishes."

The march will begin at noon next Tuesday, October 1 on Atwood Plaza and travel to Stewart Hall.