VCU issued 14 terminal contracts; protest ensued at the Board of Visitors meeting

Bri Stevens, Contributing Writer

The United Campus Workers of Virginia union protested the Focused Inquiry department layoffs on Friday, March 22, during the public comment period of the Board of Visitors meeting.

The Board of Visitors is a governor-appointed panel that develops policies for budgetary and operational matters, according to its website. VCU’s BOV includes 16 voting members, including Todd Haymore, former head of Universal Leaf Tobacco Company and DIMON Inc., and Andy Florance, the CEO of CoStar, a real estate company, according to the BOV website.

Terminal contracts were issued to 14 faculty members of the Focused Inquiry Department by the BOV last year on June 28, 2023, according to Ryan Cales, a 12-year FI department faculty member and a member of the United Campus Workers of Virginia union who received a terminal contract merely weeks after being promoted to associate professor

The Faculty Senate released a resolution that supported maintaining FI faculty on May 9, 2023, according to the resolution.

A job listing for postdocs — temporary research positions for doctoral degree holders — was released on February 22 without a public announcement, Cales said.

“When the job ad was posted, I was struck,” Cales said.

Cales said the postdocs’ job listing matched his job description and offered about the same salary, initially not realizing his job was being replaced. He believes the budget crisis is simply an excuse to fire certain faculty VCU wants to get rid of.

“The idea that we were under a budgetary need to get rid of faculty at this point just seems blatantly false,” Cales said.

Cales spoke at the BOV meeting on Friday and implored the board, “I urge you now — don’t make these mistakes. Do what is best for everyone at VCU — end this, and reinstate these contracts.”

D’Arcy Mays, the interim dean of the University College, said the terminal contracts were a result of a budgetary issue.

“Ninety-six percent of the budget is tied up with personnel,” Mays said. “Last year, all of the academic units across the university on both campuses were told that they needed to have a balanced budget.”

University College has a deficit in the budget of $2.7 million that is rolled over, according to Mays.

There is a projected enrollment cliff of a 15% decline in age-eligible college students likely in 2026, Mays said.

Five faculty members have resigned from the FI department, and as a result, two individuals with terminal contracts were renewed, according to Mays.

“I have advocated for, and we did get two people renewable contracts who were part of this group, and we continue to advocate for others,” Mays said.

The idea of postdocs was presented as a way to ensure coverage for classes, and the postdoc position will not replace the positions held by faculty with terminal contracts, Mays said.

VCU wants faculty to hold a terminal degree or the highest achievable degree in their field, according to Mays. As a result, the positions weren’t given to those who received terminal contracts since the majority of them don’t hold terminal degrees.

Some of the terminal contracts could potentially be renewed, according to Mays.

“We have been working toward a plan that has renewed a couple of the people who did get terminal contracts, and are continuing discussions that would potentially renew others,” Mays said. “That has not happened yet.”

Mays said he understands the concerns around the temporariness of postdocs.

“Are they going to be as invested in the students as the people who have been at VCU for 12 or 20 years?” Mays said. “Maybe not, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they can’t still offer very high-quality education.”

Faculty and the provost will likely not agree upon any proposed solution, Mays said.

Emma Draga, a fourth-year sociology and philosophy student at VCU and the current chair of the undergraduate worker committee within UCW-VA, said she feels students’ quality of education will diminish after the layoffs.

“All the students at VCU are paying money to be here, and the faculty are the people who make our education worth that cost in the first place,” Draga said. “The faculty are the people we form relationships with that make our education quality.”

Draga spoke directly to the BOV at the meeting to impress upon them the importance of FI faculty.

“I want to make it clear that any gutting of faculty at VCU directly harms students, and that we — every student at VCU — know this,” Draga said. “I know this when my professors are overworked, given increasingly larger class sizes, and are unable to give me adequate academic support.”

Draga stressed that professors are imperative for students to thrive at VCU and thereafter.

“Our professors are our lifeline,” Draga said. “They are the people at VCU that I rely on, and who I will continue to rely on in my postgraduate life.”

Kristin Reed, a focused inquiry professor at VCU,  current Steering Committee member and the former chapter chair of UCW-VA, said the administration did not have a conversation with the faculty before making the decision to hire postdocs.

“Seeing the ad was a little bit of a punch in the gut,” Reed said. “There was no time for faculty to express concerns before the hiring committee was formed and the ad was posted.”

Reed said the notion of hiring new people would be more costly than keeping veteran faculty because the search for new employees is expensive.

The administration is made up of business leaders, not faculty members, who prioritize a weak and small workforce, Reed said.

“President Rao has said explicitly in faculty senate meetings that we’re operating off of a Wall Street model to compensate our upper administration,” Reed said. “They are trying to run it as a business, like an Amazon packing facility.”

Reed said the morale among staff is very low.

“I don’t want to come to work when all of my coworkers are fired,” Reed said. “It’s awful.”

Jenna Gabriel, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Art Education, an adjunct instructor and a former chapter chair of UCW-VA, said she feels as someone who would be eligible to apply for the postdoc position, she’s not as skilled as veteran faculty.

“Students deserve to not be taught by me,” Gabriel said. “They deserve not to be taught by people who haven’t been trained, they deserve to be taught by experienced faculty who’ve been doing this for decades.”

Kim Zicafoose, a FI faculty member who has dedicated over 20 years to teaching at VCU, was one of the 14 who received a terminal contract. Zicafoose broke down into tears when asked how she felt when she received her termination letter.

“The administration keeps saying that we weren’t fired, but simply received terminal contracts,” Zicafoose said. “I feel fired.”

At the BOV meeting, Zicafoose highlighted her service to the school which was recognized in a letter by President Rao.

“In May of 2023, I was promoted in my department with glowing recommendations from the promotion committee, the department chair, and the dean,” Zicafoose said. “A mere month later, on June 28th, I received a terminal contract outlining that VCU was no longer interested in that fine service.”

Kimberly Portillo, a second-year radiation sciences major, said wrongfully firing faculty puts students in a difficult position as it endangers the quality of their education and she warned the BOV that their concerns about enrollment won’t be remedied by ignoring student concerns.

“Students talk, and there is a strong sense of community here at VCU,” Portillo said. “Our words spread fast and far. If you are so worried about your enrollment and retention rates, then listen to our voices.”

BOV Rector Todd Haymore shared a statement via email regarding the public speakers.

“The board appreciated hearing from students and faculty about these important issues,” Haymore stated. “We all share the same goal: ensuring VCU provides every student an outstanding education that prepares them for their futures. Today was helpful in hearing their experiences and perspectives.”