College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters Budget Shortfall

November 27, 2024

The College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters (CASL) is experiencing challenging financial times, like many liberal arts colleges across the country. The college is considering a variety of options (some of which are more difficult than others) and all options are taken very seriously due to their potential impact on the livelihoods of our employees and impact on students. Consideration and discussion continue in the college, and final decisions have not been made. The administration will work closely with college faculty and staff in a collaborative manner to seek input on proposed actions as we all work together to address the budgetary challenges ahead of us.

Key information

Content posted on December 11, 2024 and updated on December 19, 2024

• Enrollment in UM-Dearborn’s College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters has been declining for more than 10 years. The student headcount was 4,756 in 2013-14 and 2,446 in 2023-24, a 49% decline. This has created a significant budget shortfall in the college.
• In Fall 2014, there were 15 students per full-time equivalent instructor (average across CASL); in Fall 2024, there were nine students per full-time equivalent instructor.
• The most significant portion of these declines has occurred in the areas of the humanities, arts and social sciences.
• Many cutbacks have been made over the last decade, including eliminating vacant tenure-track faculty and staff positions, merging departments and eliminating course banking practices, but they have not alleviated the deficit.
• After reflecting on the situation in conversation with faculty for more than a year, the CASL dean has made the difficult determination that immediate further action is necessary. Measures to balance the budget include:
  • Increasing course minimums and caps. As of December 10, CASL has increased course sizes for approximately 15% of its course selections. The majority of these courses are expected to see an increase of 5-10 students.
  • As of December 19, of the 154 courses impacted by changes to minimums and caps: 21 courses have increased by fewer than 5 students, 103 courses increased between 5-10 students and 30 courses increased between 10-30 students (with the average being around 20 students).  It is important to note not all the courses will reach the cap amount.
  • This action is expected to ultimately reduce the number of faculty, impacting some CASL lecturers (primarily Lecturer I and II). Human Resources is working with representatives of the Lecturers’ Employee Organization to minimize layoffs and all aspects of the contract are being followed.  CASL is working to identify viable alternatives to layoffs or course reductions for faculty impacted by the raised course caps for Winter 2025. These alternatives may include maintaining benefits and salary at current levels of the Fall 2024 term. Other LEO layoffs in the college, not related to identified course minimums, may occur, as they do every semester in the college and in other colleges on campus.
  • Some courses may be offered less frequently, but over the course of a student’s time on our campus (4 years for first-year students, 2-3 years for transfer students), all necessary courses will be offered to allow for a four-year graduation plan. Current juniors and seniors will have arrangements made to allow for on-time graduation.
• Additional measures include:
  • Reassign displaced tenured and tenure-track faculty to new courses rather than giving them course releases.
  • Review any courses with perpetual under-enrollment and assess the need for course/curricular updates and/or course cancellations.
  • Implement scheduling efficiencies that are expected to be advantageous for students due to fewer course cancellations closer to the beginning of the new semester.
  • In seeking instructional efficiencies, CASL has worked closely with academic advising offices and departmental leadership to ensure that schedule modifications do not impact students' paths to graduation.
• These measures draw on previous recommendations. A task force comprised of college faculty drafted a white paper in 2022 with proposed solutions to address enrollment declines. It was updated by the college’s Faculty Executive Committee last academic year. Both versions of the paper recommended an increase in course minimums and cap revisions.
• The dean presented and discussed immediate plans for implementation of various methods to increase instructional efficiencies, including raising course minimums, at the Fall 2024 faculty meetings. Department chairs initiated related conversations in their academic units dating back to August 2024 when the Winter 2025 schedule planning began. Conversation will continue.

These actions are limited to CASL.

• None of UM-Dearborn’s other three colleges is experiencing financial hardships.

UM-Dearborn is responsible for its own budget and budgeting decisions.

These enrollment declines follow national trends.

• The situation at UM-Dearborn is not unique and follows national trends. Many liberal arts colleges across the country have lost enrollment and experienced budget constraints.

UM-Dearborn remains wholly committed to the liberal arts.

• These measures are being undertaken to ensure the university is protecting its liberal arts course offerings and ensuring CASL’s secure financial future.
• Discussion and dialogue continue in the college through Dean’s Open Office Hours and additional meetings.