[Editor’s note: We changed some of the wording in this article on April 16 to remove the term “fired” for the employees who lost their jobs suddenly on April 11, after some readers complained that the term implies termination for cause. A clarification is appended at the end of the article.]
Faculty reacted this week with anger and sadness to the abrupt dismissal of 12 staff at UNC Asheville on Thursday, mixed with worry about what will come next as Chancellor Kimberly van Noort tries to close a $6 million budget gap by June 30.
On Thursday morning the university notified the dozen staffers who held administrative jobs in Student Affairs, Academic Affairs and the Office of the Chancellor that their jobs were eliminated, and they had until the end of the day to clear their desks.
Asheville Watchdog obtained an email sent to colleagues Thursday morning by one of the affected staffers. “I was just informed that, after 17 years of employment, today will be my last day at UNCA. I will miss so many of you, and regret that I won’t likely have a chance to say goodbye in person,” the email said.
“It is devastating to hear this news and how the university is going about these layoffs,” one veteran faculty member said, requesting anonymity because of fear of reprisal. “UNCA isn’t the same place as it was when I started my full-time teaching career over two decades ago. Back then, there was a sense of community and excitement. Now there’s an ominous feeling in the hallways, a sense of doom.”
In a “Chancellor’s Update” sent to “Campus Colleagues” Thursday afternoon, van Noort wrote: “I’m deeply disappointed that a reduction in force was necessary to help the University address a projected budget deficit in the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. We didn’t want to part with any of our valued colleagues, and we pursued every avenue to reduce the number affected in this difficult period.”
Shrinking enrollment
The fiscal crisis at the school stems in part from a dramatically shrinking enrollment over more than a decade, which has in turn reduced the funding from the UNC system. Van Noort said the job eliminations are part of an effort to keep the budget deficit from ballooning to $8 million next fiscal year, which starts July 1.
In early February, van Noort put the campus on notice that she would take steps to close the budget gap, including curtailing the use of adjunct professors, who are among the lowest-paid of all the faculty. The adjuncts in the humanities program were then notified that their contracts would not be renewed for the next academic year.
Van Noort also said she is using attrition to pare back the costs of staffing. She said she will not fill vacant posts, including of faculty, as people retire or depart for other opportunities, and has reassigned some people, and eliminated other roles.
One student, who spoke on condition of not being named for fear of reprisal, said, “There are lots of vacant positions all over the campus. It leaves us students with less and less resources.”
Some faculty members expressed dismay and fear that Thursday’s staff cuts would be only the beginning of other cuts, both to entire academic programs and to additional faculty positions. Some told The Watchdog they considered the summary dismissals “brutal” and uncharacteristic of how the school has been managed in previous years.
A tenured professor, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, said that students are upset and collectively gasped at a class session when told of the job losses on Friday. And, in a step that doesn’t bode well for retention, a few of his own students told him, he said, that they are planning to transfer to another school because they fear that their major will be eliminated at UNCA.
Van Noort’s communications that big changes are coming have students and faculty feeling that “it’s like the sword of Damocles” waiting to fall, the professor said.
Van Noort appeared to be aware of the blow this action could have on her campus colleagues.
“As a community that values care and compassion, we are extending [the dismissed employees] practical resources — including benefits support, help with resumes and job searches, and other assistance,” van Noort wrote, adding, “Recognizing the significance of this moment, the University has made counseling and related services available to all faculty and staff.”
“Angry and sad”
One former long-time UNCA employee, who is also an alumna, said she was “angry and sad” about the way the dismissals were handled on a campus that is already experiencing low morale.
“Whether it is legal or not in an “at-will employment” state, UNCA should not be delivering termination news and asking staff to pack up their offices by 5 p.m. the same day, particularly not employees who are also alumni and who have had long tenures with the university. This is wrong, it is cruel and in direct opposition to recent statements being made about UNCA being a culture of care and compassion,” she said in an email to The Watchdog.
Van Noort’s “Chancellor’s Update” on April 11, just hours after the 12 staff members were informed that they had been terminated, outlined her four-step approach to closing the budget deficit.
She ordered a reduction in spending by limiting travel and leaving vacancies unfilled, except for hiring a new provost and a new vice chancellor for budget and finance, both of whom will have salaries of about $200,000 a year. She also began using endowment and trust funds where possible and created a fall 2024 academic schedule that “relies heavily on permanent faculty.”
Second, she identified and finalized a limited number of employee dismissals, the step she took this week.
Third, she announced a review of all academic programs, which faculty fear will mean cuts.
Lastly, Van Noort also said she would closely monitor enrollment trends for fiscal 2025, and begin long-term planning.
UNCA’s new provost, Yvonne Villanueva-Russell, who was named March 28 and will start July 1, will now have a more difficult and likely contentious campus environment to navigate. Villanueva-Russell currently serves as Dean of the College of Innovation and Design at Texas A&M University-Commerce, a doctoral-granting comprehensive university of 11,000 students in East Texas, near the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.
[Clarification: This article originally referred to the employees being fired. Although true to the dictionary definition — “dismissed from a job” — the term has connotations of being let go for cause. The Watchdog is changing its editorial stylebook to prefer “dismissed” except in cases of abrupt job loss because of misconduct.]
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and surrounding communities. Barbara Durr is a former correspondent for The Financial Times of London. Contact her at bdurr@avlwatchdog.org. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/donate.
Reality sucks. Unpaid bills eventually come due.
$200,000 a year?! What the “heck”?!@#
Clear out your desks by the end of the day? Doesn’t sound like Asheville.
Van Noort is treating UNCA like it’s owned by private equity and willing to bulldoze the most valuable asset, the human supports. Her words “we don’t want to part with our valued colleagues” ring hollow and heartless when long term employees can be escorted out with no notice and no chance for closure. Van Noort, and those appointees who govern the UNC system, clearly have no understanding of what makes a healthy university community. I seem to remember that twenty years ago UNCA was at the top of the list for small liberal arts colleges. Why would any student choose to come here now when loyalty and community have been shoveled away?
‘Hey, if we could just get rid of these pesky students and teachers, we administrators could have a damned fine university.’
I grew up with a father whose career spanned, on several occasions, distinguished academic positions. I value, especially, public universities.
To read this —“ A tenured professor, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, said …” — is so deeply discouraging. What does he or she think tenure bestows? Have some courage or become the old joke of tenured radicals driving Volvos.
Anybody ask the tenured faculty to perhaps take a time limited salary reduction rather than can the adjuncts who are so poorly paid to start with? Or perhaps the administrators might kick back some as they don’t seem to be doing a bang up job?
The Watchdog is very informative and I have appreciated being informed; regretfully, I am unable to have a subscription at this time.
Thank you.
Sandy Stanford
Thanks for the kind words. Just a reminder, a subscription to The Watchdog is always free. We believe that everyone deserves trustworthy local news, regardless of their ability to pay. We’re able to offer free access to everyone, and to augment our team of volunteers with a fulltime staff of paid professional journalists, thanks to the generosity of those who can afford to support local journalism.
Time for y
Over y Hill Gang
To be Volunteer Teachers ?
I recall Mrs Hancock
Volunteer Chemistry Teacher at AC High School way back in ‘963
Volunteerism Can Get y Rudiments Taught
Then Students are On Their Own.
Fritz Skees on FaceBook
😼😼😼
Shut them all down. They have all become a political sewer pit anyway. Students, clean yourselves up and go apply for a job in the real world!
OMG what a bunch of drama queens. You want a real sense of doom? Move to Gaza!
Shame on you, Barbara Durr. And shame on you, too, Asheville Watchdog. Words matter. The inappropriate use of the word “fired” in your article is incorrect and clearly used with the intent to incite. And it worked! This has me angry enough to revoke my donation. To “fire” someone is to dismiss for CAUSE. People who are fired for cause do not receive resume help and job placement assistance. This new Chancellor has a tough enough road ahead without your help. There are likely more dismissals ahead. I ask that you get your act together before reporting further on this matter.
Agree. The positions were eliminated. The people were not “fired.”
While true to the dictionary definition of fired — “dismissed from a job” — the term has connotations of being let go for cause. The wording of the article has been changed, and The Watchdog is changing its editorial stylebook to prefer “dismissed” except in cases of abrupt job loss because of misconduct.
Why hasn’t the Faculty Senate called an emergency meeting to discuss the fiscal crisis and to insist that Chancellor Van Noort give them a clear plan for how dismissals (Reduction in Force) are to be determined: what criteria are to be used, what group is making the decisions, and most importantly, just how much savings will result from those salaries?
Whatever happened to giving an employee some notice of an impending layoff? Oh wait; perhaps that went the way of labor unions. Even so, I didn’t realize that a public institution can fire at will, same day, like this. What the wut?
I think when it was announced that their was a $6 million shortfall, all the staff should have thought of it as notice of layoffs coming. The upkeep/ maintenance costs do not change even after a 25% or so decrease in enrollment. so sadly, people go.
It is my understanding NC University system employment works on an “At Will” basis (common for NC) for non-tenured academics, support professionals such as Student Affairs, and administrative staff, unlike many state and Federal permanent positions which provide security after a probationary period. Anyone in the NC system can be terminated “At Will” and gets compensation beyond termination date according to years of service. If an employee is terminated “For Cause,” then protections are in place, but NC universities simply use the “At Will” provision. NC is a strongly anti-union state and NC university employees can easily get caught in job politics or downsizing issues.
It infuriates me that the Board of Governors has been treating UNCA as the neglected stepchild rather than the jewel it has been. I’m a 1988 grad and the UNCA I attended was great. Caring faculty and staff, excellent instruction, affordable tuition and fees and a fabulous outdoor setting for graduation. I was delighted that I found such a place to finally finish getting my degree.
Oh, right, a certain group of politicians has decided liberal arts schools are the enemy because they teach people to think. Thus they have decided to starve the smaller liberal arts schools in the state. I suggest voting for the opponent of anyone who thinks this way!
UNCA operates in a vacuum that doesn’t promote true diversity of thought. So not really ‘teaching people to think.’ Families are making decisions on where to send their young adults to actually think ‘critically’ with all sides considered. Liberal arts schools that elect to not truly promote diverse viewpoints will continue to see their enrollments slide.
Wow! Pretty brutal way to do layoffs. I guess UNCA has gone corporate in its approach to reducing the deficit. The Chancellor is probably not getting many dinner invitations these days.
Academia needs to grow a pair. When the product is undesirable to the public who won’t pay for the service, you can’t stay in business. This isn’t the federal government. Real life isn’t “tenured.”
Questionable reporting here…seems overly dramatic. Were they fired or laid off? Fired is an inflammatory word. Being let go or laid off is real life in an economy such as we are in. When even the “good guys” have to make decisions that make them ogres.
Second Comment: Any employee working at UNCA unaware the institution is in crisis is living on another planet. Since when did employers give advance notice of lay-offs? Not my career reality. Very happy to see reader’s comments referring to “lay-off’s” vs. “firings,” as Ms. Durr is so intent on reporting.
From UNCA Policy Manual
Before a reduction in force occurs, the employee must be given verbal and written notification at least 30 calendar days in advance of the separation date.
From previous Watchdog article, the Chancellor, Van Noort, earns $375K/yr. From this article, the new administrators will each earn $200K/yr. The average tenured Full Professor earns somewhere between $66K – $102K/yr. Looking at the administrators salaries and the faculty salaries, I am dismayed by the disparity. This morning, on a podcast, I learned that POTUS’ salary is $400K/yr. Hmmmm. Chancellor of a University, $375K. POTUS, $400K. Hmmmm. Food for thought. Maybe we are paying our university administrators too much?
’88 UNCA grad, you are correct. The BOG has set system tuition rates to discourage students and their families from choosing UNCA…because it is a liberal arts school.
With all due respect Chancellor, you couldn’t fill the Provost and vice Chancellor positions @ $150,000/ year and roll the $100K savings into a couple of teaching positions. Did it ever occur to you that you may be offering pay grades a little bit outside what you can afford. What exactly is YOUR salary, btw?
As always, people far down the food chain bear the burden of upper management’s failures. Why not do pro rata pay reductions across the board with no job losses? Or, do across the board pay reductions with no job losses and the greatest reduction in pay concentrated in upper management. That would be fair.
I’d like a little more in depth understanding of what’s going on here and why? It’s not surprising that UNCA would have a drop in enrollment during and in the recent aftermath of covid. Also because of the cost of living in Asheville for students. How many students live on campus? Are there enough dorms? Are the current majors meeting the demands and interests of students? Also, are each of the campus’ budgets distinct or are they funded through a state pool? Where is the decision made to shrink the school, at the state level? Considering how fast Asheville is growing it seems incumbent on the state to build up or add new programs at UNCA rather than shrink them. I also suspect, given the amount of undeveloped land UNCA has in pricey Montford, that there’s considerable behind the scenes lobbying going on at the state from real estate developers to get their hands on it. Asheville local governments and voters needs to demand that the state supports and expands the UNCA campus. Asheville pays the highest property tax revenues in the state and we need a top notch state university campus in western North Carolina. It enriches the entire community.