MERCED, Calif. — Some lecturers at University of California Merced were laid off at the start of the year. But university officials neither wanted to confirm the layoffs nor answer questions about how it will impact courses.
A spokesperson for the university, Sam Yniguez, told KVPR “it is the practice of UC Merced not to comment on personnel matters.” Meanwhile, KVPR spoke to current and former faculty members and students to confirm the layoffs.
KVPR first learned in late December that nine lecturer positions in a specialized writing program were being eliminated abruptly. A copy of an email sent to at least one lecturer affected by the layoffs said that the decision was based on the budget.
The notice came from Rebecca Smith, assistant dean of the Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts Department at the campus, on behalf of the dean, Leonardo Arriola.
“I regret to inform you that…It will be necessary to lay you off from your teaching appointment as a Continuing Lecturer, effective January 1, 2025,” the email reads. “This layoff is necessary due to budgetary considerations and programmatic need.”
Lecturers who were laid off were already scheduled to teach courses with students enrolled in a couple weeks. Sources told KVPR this could result in students being assigned different instructors without prior knowledge, or having to register for different instructors at the beginning of the semester.
But the layoffs signal potential bigger challenges. A subsequent email sent to faculty of the writing program and also obtained by KVPR said that terminations were made because of “ongoing declines in enrollment.”
UC Merced enrollment a factor?
The university campus has tried to address enrollment in recent years. This is not the first time lecturers at UC Merced are left without a job before the start of the semester. KVPR reported last January at least 19 lecturers also lost their positions or their contracts weren’t renewed.
Last year, then-interim executive vice chancellor and provost Marjorie Zatz told KVPR through email that future cuts to lecturers would depend on the individual needs of individual departments or colleges.
Stan Porter, who teaches writing at the university and is the union steward on campus, says the sudden decrease in lecturers means about 450 students registered with those lecturers for the spring and could be impacted in some way.
Late last year, the California Legislative Analyst’s Office released a 20-year progress report on UC Merced. The report laid out that the campus relies on non-tenure track lecturers for academic instruction more than any other UC campus. It explained the university relies on lecturers rather than tenured professors because non-tenure track lecturers incur lower staffing costs and are therefore “more fiscally viable for a young campus.”
The report also stated UC Merced’s enrollment has been slow and the campus “has repeatedly failed to meet its campus enrollment targets.”
According to university data, UC Merced enrolled 9,110 students last semester, which is 38 fewer from a year prior. UC Merced has struggled to increase enrollment since 2020, hovering just above 9,000 students each semester. Enrollment is currently below enrollment goals in the university’s strategic plan, which called for 11,800 students this year and 15,000 by 2030.
UC Merced also spends more per student than any other UC campus. In 2022, a total of $85 million more was allocated to the campus from the state’s general fund. The analyst report concluded this money could have resulted in an additional 10,000 students enrolled if given to another campus.
Lecturers left with questions
The nine lecturers that were laid off in December taught for the Merritt Writing Program. Seven of the lecturers were considered "continuing lecturers." Those lecturers are typically full-time permanent employees as long as the university has work for them.
Matthew Nye and his partner Elizabeth Cunningham are among those who weren’t allowed to return to lecturing. Nye taught at the UC for five years, and Cunningham taught for seven. Nye said he and Cunningham were already registered to teach in the new semester.
“It was really surprising because there was no conversation [last] year with at least us as faculty that this was under consideration,” Nye said. “[In 2023], there were similar kinds of pressures or conversations that were occurring. But in those instances there was at least a conversation that was occurring.”
Unlike other lecturers, those in the Merritt Writing Program are not required to perform research or service within the university, and they often teach introductory writing classes designed for first-year students.
Cunningham said instructors in her department feel like a “budgetary liability” to the university. Over the last seven years, Cunningham said all of this has changed her perception of UC Merced from “a community to a corporation.”
Lecturers said they were told they would receive a severance package worth about a year’s salary, per their union contract. Neither Nye nor Cunningham have received their severance yet.
Until then, Cunningham and Nye are working with the union to get more information on the layoffs. They’re also applying to new jobs and scrambling to find new health insurance. They said they also asked the university for help with new job placement shortly after the layoff notice, which is required under their contract, but have yet to hear back.
Porter, the union steward, said the union can’t do much other than make sure the university follows the lecturers’ contracts. The union’s main priority right now is ensuring the number of students in each class stays as small as possible to maintain a growth-centered learning environment.
“If we have three major essays…over the course of the semester with 20 students, [more than 20 students is] a significant increase in terms of the number of pages we're reading, commenting on, providing feedback on,” Cunningham said.
Porter said many other faculty members in the Merritt Writing Program are worried now, with some 10-year veterans asking questions.
“These are real people, with real lives, real medical conditions, real families,” Porter said.
Students say lecturers ‘foster a classroom community’
D’Anthony Wilson took Elizabeth Cunningham’s academic writing class during his first semester at UC Merced, and had signed up with her again because he considers her one of his favorite lecturers.
“I've always seen all her students participate, always chat with her, even if it's just sitting there before class,” Wilson, 18, said. “If we got there early, she's always chatting just to make sure that she is having that connection with her students.”
While many classes can average over 100 students, introductory writing courses like Cunningham’s are smaller, usually around 20 students per class. She said the smaller number is meant to create more one-on-one time with students, establish a sense of belonging and teach them fundamental critical thinking and writing skills.
“We touch every single first-year student who comes through the doors of UC Merced,” Cunningham told KVPR. “Many of them haven't had the experience in college of meeting an instructor who remembers their name because they're in 200 person-plus lecture halls. So, we're building these intimate relationships over time, we're fostering that classroom community.”
Cunningham said the small classes and personalized teaching are especially crucial for students at UC Merced, where 65% are the first in their families to attend college.
After learning of his lecturer’s situation, Wilson found he was still registered for the class section but with a different instructor. He later changed his class section to enroll with a more favorable instructor. He said the last-minute changes were so drastic, that they forced him to rethink his opinion of UC Merced.
“It shows they are not prepared,” Wilson said. “It's like, dang, this is a school I chose. Why aren't they on top of their stuff?”
Cunningham, on the other hand, worries about the relationships that could be lost between lecturers and students when she and others don’t return to class this spring.
“I've certainly seen faculty in the Merritt Writing Program work with students all four years. I've heard of faculty going to students’ weddings down the line,” Cunningham said. “And so that relationship is just completely severed.”
