MUN department head quits after budget cuts create 'untenable' situation

When Russell Williams was told to cut 20 per cent of the courses in Memorial University's political science department, he decided to step down instead.

"When you get asked to make that kind of a cut, it's time to go," Williams wrote on Twitter. "Trying to put a Band-Aid on that is pointless."

Williams was the department head for the political science program, which offered 28 courses with capacity for about 1,200 students this semester.

Memorial University has been mired in budget cuts, especially in the last three years, as the provincial government cuts its operating budget year over year while insisting it keeps a freeze on tuition.

Williams declined interview requests, but sent several tweets critical of the provincial government and how it prioritizes spending.

He took aim at the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project, the annual funding to Marble Mountain ski hill and a recent bid for the 2025 Canada Games.

"It's really sad watching the same people that squandered the future of this province on a concrete monolith in Labrador, turn around and destroy some of the few good things that are actually working," he said in one message.

"How do we interact with a government that thinks paying experts as little as $5,000 a course is a waste with no economic upside, but $10 million on a Canada Games bid (just the bid) is an investment with 'spinoffs?'.… Or that the large subsidies to a ski hill help diversity the economy but a university does not?"

The provincial government told the university in February to find $2.7 million in savings for each of the next two years. Nobody from government would speak with CBC News about the proposed cuts until the budget is released in the spring.

Minister not talking

Advanced Education, Skills and Labour Minister Christopher Mitchelmore would not do an interview on the subject, citing the upcoming provincial government budget process. Instead, a spokesperson for his department emailed a response. 

"The provincial government provides approximately 80 per cent of Memorial University's general operating revenues, compared to the Canadian average of about 47 per cent," it reads.

"Given the province's fiscal situation, all departments, agencies, boards, and commissions have been asked to find savings."

Mitchelmore will speak directly about the issue when the budget is presented, his department said.

Union concerned about cuts

There are some protections in place for full-time faculty members through collective agreements, but the head of the Memorial University faculty association is concerned about potential impacts.

Ken Snelgrove is worried they'll see a push to replace full-time professors with part-time staff on contracts, but no matter how the cuts play out, he's worried for the students.

"Ultimately, where this is going to impact is on students. They are very vulnerable here and it's the students that we should be most concerned about here and the quality of their programs."

The result will be fewer programs covering less content, creating a lesser product to attract students and staff to the university.

Snelgrove said the province should look at all forms of revenue generation and assess its priorities before slashing budgets.

"The answer is clear. There's got to be a willingness from the people of the province to express that Memorial is important."

Martha Wells is the president of the Lecturer's Union at MUN. The union represents per-course instructors and postdoctoral fellows at the university.

Wells echoed Snelgrove's concerns, adding that the university put pressure on the humanities and social sciences faculty to combine academic units, which would allow for it to cut the number of staff people it pays. 

"Which overloads the remaining staffers in the offices. Secretaries, administrative assistants, having to do much more work with the same pay," she said.

"It's an ugly state of affairs here and the government really should listen."

Not a wise place to cut, says retired professor

Stephen Tomblin knows all about the frustrations of budget cuts at Memorial University.

He retired last year from the political science department after incentives were given to entice tenured professors to leave.

Tomblin says the cuts to Memorial University are short-sighted, considering knowledge-based sectors employ more people than things like oil and gas in the province.

"Rather than the money going into the places that it probably should be in terms of improving the economy and diversifying the economy, we're seeing cuts in order to subsidize old sectors of the economy which are actually in decline," he said.

Tomblin believes universities are a good investment, since students leave with skills, experience and ideas to move into the workforce.

Professors are also expected to dedicate about 40 per cent of their jobs to research, which can prove valuable.

"Memorial has become a jewel. The quality of the research, the quality of the people who have [been] recruited and brought in. I think there's this kind of sense of frustration because we're making decisions that are more political as opposed to policy informed or based on evidence."

Williams, meanwhile, is staying on as a professor in the department of political science.

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