3 October 2023
DULUTH The union representing faculty at the University of Minnesota Duluth is expected to hold a rally Thursday as it negotiates its next contract amid a tightening budget and a reevaluation of every academic program.
John Schwetman, president of the University Education Association-Duluth and an associate professor of English at UMD, said it’s the first time the union has taken such an action in the 24 years he’s worked there. The rally is set for noon on Thursday, Oct. 5, in UMD’s Kirby Plaza Bus Hub.
“Our union has historically been a fairly quiet union,” Schwetman said in an interview, adding that it used to work with the administration at the bargaining table.
“That sort of old way of working that way with our administration, it’s getting harder and harder each year to maintain that,” he said. “We want people in the community to understand that.”
The previous contract, which covers professors at both UMD and the University of Minnesota Crookston, expired at the end of June and negotiations for a new contract began in mid-May.
But Schwetman said UMD administrators have been unwilling to negotiate on certain topics.
In a statement, Mani Vang, senior director of employee and labor relations at the University of Minnesota, said the university is “optimistic” that a mediator from the State of Minnesota Bureau of Mediation Services can help resolve remaining issues.
“Both (University Education Association) and the university have made meaningful efforts to reach agreement on a new contract, yet some key issues remain. … The university looks forward to making progress in bargaining, and successfully concluding the negotiations, with the assistance of a (Bureau of Mediation Services) mediator,” Vang said.
The negotiations come amid budget woes.
Last spring, UMD said it faced a $16.5 million budget deficit in 2024 but more than half of that was covered by system funding and the rest by a one-time carry forward of funds, David McMillan, UMD’s interim chancellor, wrote in an update last month.
“However, it does not solve our ongoing problem and we must continue the work to ensure a sustainable UMD budget model,” McMillan said.
The shortfall is driven by “continued declines in undergraduate enrollment coupled with increased compensation and benefit expenses,” McMillan said. From 2013 to 2022, fall enrollment fell 13% from 11,241 to 9,675.
The school is currently reviewing data from all undergraduate and graduate academic programs and could make decisions on the future of programs later this year and early next year.
“It’s too early to know how they will be affected,” UMD spokesperson Lynne Williams said in an email to the News Tribune. “A primary goal is to streamline them find efficiencies (i.e. class sizes, explore number of sections and capacity, etc. …). Analysis of the programs will happen this semester, with input across departments, colleges, and the campus as whole, with any longer-term decision to come next semester.”
“Every few years, it’s sort of like clockwork, they say, ‘Well, we’re going to have to make some cuts,’” Schwetman said. “And then it’s just sort of been happening over and over again.”
Among the sticking points in negotiations is a proposal by the administration that would lead to an approximately 15% increase in teaching workloads, or one more course taught per semester, Schwetman said.
Williams declined to offer details on the workload issue.
“The university is committed to honoring the terms of the (University Education Association) contract,” Williams said. “With respect to the mediation process, it would not be appropriate to go into more detail on active negotiation topics.”
In the past, Schwetman said, there’s been an understanding to keep professors about 15% from reaching the limit laid out in the contract so they could spend time on “innovative teaching practices,” grants and research.
“I’ve never seen my colleagues at UMD this concerned about the future of this institution and their ability to teach students in the way they have,” Schwetman said.
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