The MoA is long and tedious—we did the reading so you don’t have to! Our tl;dr (too long; didn't read) series will summarize articles of the MoA and provide an analysis with a Lecturer lens.
What is financial exigency?
Financial exigency is an extremely rare declaration by the University that it is in dire financial straits. From the MoA:
“The term financial exigency denotes the extraordinary and rare condition in which substantial and recurring financial deficits in the total University budget have occurred or, on the basis of generally accepted accounting principles, are projected to be ongoing, thereby placing the solvency of the University as a whole in serious jeopardy.”
The University President is responsible for positing their belief that a financial exigency exists; however, the final determination of whether or not it is so falls to the Financial Exigency Commission (FEC; also referenced in our post on Article 15). The onus is on the President to establish that a state of financial exigency exists; should the President believe that such a circumstance has arisen, they must:
Submit a report and a preliminary plan detailing the nature of the problem, relevant information, and the reason for any layoffs to the Board of Governors, Senate, and the association;
Impose a University-wide hiring freeze until the matter is resolved; and
Establish the FEC within 15 working days.
What happens when the President declares financial exigency?
As previously mentioned, the Financial Exigency Commission is responsible for confirming or rejecting the declaration of financial exigency. The Commission is comprised of three arm’s length individuals (one appointed by the University, one appointed by the association, and one jointly appointed) and two senior professors (one appointed by the University, and one appointed by the association).
Within 40 days of its formation, the FEC will prepare a report, complete with rationale and recommendations, confirming or rejecting the declaration of financial exigency. If FEC’s determination is that the financial exigency does not exist, then there will be no layoffs or reduction in the faculty complement for budgetary reasons.
If the FEC determines that a financial exigency exists, then it will recommend the amount of reduction (if any) to faculty salaries and benefits and the number of faculty layoffs. Reductions to salaries and benefits are:
“conditional upon ongoing exploration of alternative cost-saving measures by the University”
While layoffs are to be considered only after the University has:
“...exhausted all reasonable means to alleviate the financial exigency by applying rigorous economies in all areas of the University's present and projected expenditures, by using all reasonable means of improving its income, and by using all other means of making the necessary reductions in the employee groups in a manner which best maintains the academic viability of the University”.
The Board of Governors is responsible for implementing the recommendations from the FEC report, and provides rationale for any recommendations that it chooses not to carry out.
The Lecturer Perspective
Once again, there are concerns about Lecturer representation and full participation in collegial governance. The two faculty member appointees to the FEC are limited to:
“two senior members of the UW professoriate”
This precludes the eligibility of Lecturers to serve.
The FEC is an extremely powerful commission with the ability, in exceptional circumstances, to recommend layoffs and/or reductions to salaries and benefits. Continuing Lecturers should be eligible to serve on this Commission.
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