The president of a national teacher union is pushing back on proposed academic cuts at West Virginia University.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, sent a letter to the WVU Board of Governors to call proposed cuts “draconian and catastrophic.”
“The scope and nature of these cuts raise fundamental questions about WVU’s commitment to its students, its surrounding community and the state,” Weingarten wrote.
West Virginia University officials responded by describing appreciation for the letter while countering some of its claims.
“West Virginia University is, and will remain, the flag ship, land-grant, R1 institution in West Virginia with an unmatched breadth of academic opportunities for learning in the Mountain State,” the university stated as part of its response.
“We believe hyperbole is harmful, and that is why we are focused on the data and metrics we’ve gathered and the informed engagement we know is essential to helping WVU become the modern land-grant university today’s world demands.”
The cutbacks are happening because WVU faces the likelihood of being down $45 million this year — potentially growing to $75 million over the next five years if steps aren’t taken to control costs.
University leaders are dealing with the shortfall with a tuition increase of about 3%, the use of some financial reserves and by cutting employees and programs.
WVU announced preliminary cutbacks to academic programs last month. The proposa
