Walter Daugherity, a 24-year Texas A&M senior lecturer with a Harvard doctorate, knew his job could be cut, but it still was jarring to be called into his boss's office last week.
"I assumed it would be about the budget reduction," he said about the meeting with his department head, "but it was still a bit of a shock to see it in black-and-white like that: Your last day will be...'" -- Aug. 31, 2011.
The budget plan released in July that called for a reduction of $60 million has quietly inched toward reality. Tuesday is the deadline for colleges to give senior lecturers notice that they won't have a job next year.
Though the cuts aren't scheduled to take effect until the next biennium -- the two-year period that starts September 2011 -- a university rule states that some lecturers must be given a year's notice. Officials have said all lecturers who won't be reappointed will get that notice, to give them a chance to plan ahead.
Daugherity, a computer science and engineering instructor, is one of four senior lecturers in his department who has been given notice. The four represent roughly 10 percent of the faculty in the department; however, they teach a quarter of the classes, he said.
"Our senior lecturers are highly qualified professional teachers," he said. "Sure, it would be cheaper to replace them with a new graduate or even an advanced doctoral student, but I think it's safe to say it wouldn't be better for students."
The university-wide plans had called for the elimination of 93 faculty and 117 staff positions -- along with 100 vacant faculty and 175 vacant staff positions -- to help meet a "worst-case" state reduction of $39 million and an internal $21 million reallocation plan to bolster a centrally administered pool to fund strategic priorities.
Across the university, non-tenured faculty have been given notices.
On Monday afternoon, all nine lecturers and senior lecturers in the biology department were set to receive notices of non-renewal.
Joseph Newton, dean of the College of Science -- which oversees the biology department -- confirmed the move when reached after hours. He said he didn't feel comfortable discussing specifics until he had a chance to speak with the department head.
"We will have to make up for the loss in teaching power of the non-tenure track faculty by larger class sizes, and increasing the load on the tenured faculty," Newton said. "It will hurt to some extent the research and service they're expected to do."
University officials also said that some of the lecturers could be asked to come back as part of spending on strategic reallocation. The process for deciding how the reallocation money will be spent should be decided in coming weeks, officials said.
"Now the question will be 'What's the process for reallocation?'" said Bob Bednarz, former Faculty Senate speaker.
Another key factor could impact reduction plans and save jobs. A buyout program that seeks to offer tenured professors a year or two year's pay, depending on the college, is accepting applicants until Sept. 24. Interim Provost Karan Watson has said deans will be allowed to alter their plans once the program's success is known.
By spending "one-time" money up front -- administrators set aside roughly
$16 million for the effort -- the university saves on recurring salary payments. But administrators and deans are anxiously awaiting how many people will sign up. Only tenured faculty -- who are typically paid more than their non-tenured counterparts -- are eligible under the buyout program.
Daugherity is hopeful that his job could be saved if the buyout program -- called the voluntary separation program -- is a success. But he said he won't know until October for sure whether he should look for another job. Either way, he's not ready to retire.
"My Social Security wouldn't cover the mortgage," he said.
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