April 4, 2025
Dear Colleagues,
As you know, last fall, at my direction, the Office of Academic Affairs initiated the faculty retrenchment process, including in some units where the enrollment is not well aligned with the number of full-time faculty. As an important component of the retrenchment process, the Joint Committee on Retrenchment (JCR) was formed in December 2024. The JCR fulfills a contractual provision of the UA faculty’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the institution. Together, the Akron-AAUP and the University’s administration agreed upon deadline extensions that would give the JCR additional time to consider the University’s initial retrenchment proposal and alternative recommendations from units across campus. After doing so, the JCR formulated its own advisory recommendations to best move us forward.
Today, I have received the JCR’s executive summary of its work, its response to the provost’s initial retrenchment proposal and a list of its recommendations. The JCR report can be found here.
I’d like to thank the members of the JCR for their thoughtful and thorough work over the past four months. Additionally, I’d like to assure the UA community that I will carefully consider the recommendations that have been made by the provost, the impacted units and the JCR before making my own recommendations to the Board of Trustees.
As the JCR report is now public, I ask that the community bear in mind that the JCR’s purview is advisory, and I further request that the documents resulting from the committee’s work be viewed for what they are—recommendations. The UA Board of Trustees will make the final decisions about faculty retrenchment. While I fully anticipate that the Board will deliberate carefully on the provost’s initial proposal, my recommendations, the budget improvement plan and, of course, the JCR report, it is important for us to follow the process outlined in the CBA.
I have repeatedly iterated my passion for The University of Akron and my commitment to the institution’s comprehensive growth. Considerations of this magnitude must be treated with both seriousness and sensitivity. I vow careful reflection on the JCR’s work, thoughtful leadership and targeted strategy as I formulate my recommendations. Together, we will elevate The University of Akron and prepare the community for our next 155 years.
Sincerely,
R.J. Nemer
President