Duke faculty are fed up with cost-cutting. Thanks to a new independent analysis of institutional finances, many of them now feel they have the data to back up their grievances.
Last March, Duke initiated a cost-reduction strategy that resulted in slashed budgets across its 10 schools, largely fueled by significant staff cuts. According to a September presentation from administrators, 681 employees left the institution through either a voluntary separation program or retirement incentive initiative. Another 45 were laid off.
In response, Duke’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, a national advocacy organization for faculty and academic staff, commissioned an accountant with a long history of reviewing universities’ finances to look at Duke’s data and determine whether administrators were justified in enacting such sweeping cuts. At a Tuesday evening meeting on East Campus, his verdict came as a resounding no…