{"id":17546,"date":"2022-05-22T10:54:35","date_gmt":"2022-05-22T10:54:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/?p=17546"},"modified":"2022-05-22T10:54:35","modified_gmt":"2022-05-22T10:54:35","slug":"the-effects-of-faculty-cuts-ripple-across-umf-campus-and-into-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/egrowonline.com\/?p=17546","title":{"rendered":"The effects of faculty cuts ripple across UMF campus and into homes"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Jonathan Cohen is one of nine faculty members in the humanities and social sciences departments at the University of Maine at Farmington to learn their positions were being eliminated. Cohen, pictured in his office, described the cuts as an \u201camputation\u201d to UMF\u2019s liberal arts identity. He\u2019s been at the university for 30 years as \u201can ambassador of philosophy.\u201d Kay Neufeld\/Sun Journal<\/i><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

FARMINGTON \u2014 Nine faculty members in the humanities and social sciences departments learned May 2 that their careers at the University of Maine at Farmington \u2014 which they had hoped would be lasting \u2014 were changing course.<\/p>\n

The eliminations, impacting five tenured professors, effectively wiped out UMF\u2019s Women\u2019s and Gender Studies division, the Philosophy and Religion department and the World Languages department. Three additional positions were eliminated in the Geography, Psychology and History departments.<\/p>\n

They were also academic advisors for students<\/a>, advisors for diverse campus clubs and initiatives, and community resources.<\/p>\n

The UMaine System has described the eliminations as \u201cretrenchments,\u201d a method to curtail expenses and economize, which often means cutting staff and potentially offering them another position in the system.<\/p>\n

Alongside the retrenchments, nine other faculty members took a planned retirement offering.<\/p>\n

When the announcements were made, Chancellor Dannel Malloy said,<\/a> \u201cWe will work to the highest extent possible to see those individuals (on faculty) stay here in Maine and have a job should one be available to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an email message, though, UMaine System spokesperson Margaret Nagle said the affected faculty members could also be \u201claid off involuntarily.\u201d<\/p>\n

The effects of the decision have rippled across campus: Students have protested and launched the #SaveHumanitiesUMF campaign<\/a> demanding Chancellor Dannel Malloy\u2019s removal; the UMF Faculty Senate issued a vote of no confidence in Malloy<\/a>; and Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Eric Brown handed in his resignation<\/a> due to \u201cthe impending change in presidential leadership \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Students and faculty said the courses in these programs have all been canceled and the UMaine System is now inviting affected students to take \u201conline<\/span> synchronous and asynchronous courses<\/span> offered by other University of Maine System campuses.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just courses and programs that have been impacted. Uncertainty tinges the future of each professor who has lost a job; people with roots in Farmington \u2014 both longstanding and fresh.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Cohen, whose position as a professor of philosophy was eliminated, said in an interview at his UMF office this week that the adjacent hallway lined with offices of other retrenched professors is \u201cthe scene of the amputation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cohen came to UMF in 1992 to be an \u201cambassador of philosophy\u201d as the program\u2019s second ever philosophy professor. During the ensuing 30 years, Cohen raised his family of four children in what he called Farmington\u2019s \u201cvery warm community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last fall, UMF was recognized by Washington Monthly\u2019s 2021 annual college rankings as a top bachelor\u2019s college in the country. UMF was also recognized as a top 10 college by U.S. News & World Report in its 2022 Best Colleges rankings in five separate categories, including\u00a0Best Value College, Top Public College, Top Regional College, Best College for Veterans and Top Performer on Social Mobility.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe gave (students) with the small, public, liberal arts (programs) a holistic experience,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like I\u2019m having more of an effect when I help (students) understand philosophical problems better related to their own lives and producing conscientious citizens who care about the community.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Ann Kennedy, the final core professor to be cut from the Women\u2019s and Gender Studies division, came to UMF in 2007 for the same reasons Cohen had. As did Jesse Minor, the retrenched geography professor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we do (in liberal studies) is empower (students) to think about themselves, not just as someone who needs a job, but someone who wants to contribute to society,\u201d Kennedy said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really drawn to the (liberal arts\u2019) multiple ways of looking at things \u2026 using both sides of the brain,\u201d Minor said.<\/p>\n

At the same time as the eliminations, Cohen\u2019s father, whom he called a \u201cdedicated intellectual,\u201d died.<\/p>\n

Cohen spent April 29 driving to Philadelphia to attend his father\u2019s funeral and sit shiva \u2014 a Jewish mourning tradition. At the end of his drive, Cohen opened up his phone to the same email all nine professors had received asking for a meeting with human resources.<\/p>\n

He said this gave him perspective, but \u201cit was hard to not think about, \u2018What does losing my job mean?’\u201d amid his mourning.<\/p>\n

Cohen acknowledged that after 30 years at UMF, the elimination has a different impact on him than on professors who recently moved to Farmington or who are still raising children.<\/p>\n

That includes Minor, who had just begun setting roots in Farmington after joining the university in 2018. \u201cMy daughter learned how to walk here,\u201d Minor said. \u201cThis was gonna be the ideal place where we could put down our roots, build our community, build our careers and raise a family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, the question is: Will they leave?<\/p>\n

Cohen is doubtful; his wife has built a career in Farmington and he can commute.<\/p>\n

Kennedy seems certain she will leave Farmington, perhaps go to the South or West Coast where family lives if she is not able to find work elsewhere in Maine.<\/p>\n

And as for Minor? \u201cI simply don\u2019t know,\u201d he said. Minor would miss his mountain biking club for local families, seeing his kids riding their bikes to school, skiing at Titcomb Mountain and walking through the woods.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Loving Farmington) is part of what makes this so difficult. We don\u2019t want to leave,\u201d Minor said. \u201cThis prompts the question of what I value the most. Is it this career that I worked really hard for and trained in very specific ways for . . . (with) closer student engagement \u2026 or do we value something else?\u201d<\/p>\n

Though their futures are uncertain, the resounding theme among the faculty members was their love for the students.<\/p>\n

Cohen will miss the students for their willingness to learn and their \u201cfresh perspectives\u201d on his lessons. Kennedy said she will \u201cdesperately miss the students\u201d she spends most of her time with.<\/p>\n

The professors also share fears about how the cuts will impact students\u2019 educations.<\/p>\n

It was important to Kennedy that she contributed to UMF\u2019s education on women\u2019s and gender studies in a rural area where these discussions might get \u201clost.\u201d The importance of those subjects was imbued in Kennedy as a child, raised in Alabama by \u201ca working class, feminist mother.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s particularly passionate about her program\u2019s importance in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court leak indicating the Roe v. Wade ruling giving Americans the federal constitutional right to an abortion may be struck down. That leak was reported the same day Kennedy learned her position was eliminated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that my classroom is a place where students can really talk about some of the ways in which they\u2019ve been told not to talk about issues, not to talk about experiences they\u2019ve had,\u201d Kennedy said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do feel terrible for UMF. This is an amputation; a real, real loss for the dream of the public liberal arts college,\u201d Cohen said. \u201cFor Maine students to now not have that public liberal arts option is a real shame.\u201d<\/p>\n

Karly Jacklin, an organizer of #SaveHumanitiesUMF<\/a> and a rising senior, said this process has been \u201cemotionally devastating\u201d for her and other students. Her college career, anticipated degrees and community have been impacted by the cuts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese professors are not only amazing academic instructors, but they are also pillars of our community,\u201d Jacklin said. \u201cThese professors are incredibly loved in our community. And seeing them go is appalling.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Cohen is \u201cquite proud of what we built\u201d at UMF, \u201cthat dream is dead with this amputation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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