Manhattan College tenured profs may lose jobs

Tenured professors at Manhattan College who have been offered buyout packages by the administration received a boost from some alumni and students who rallied in support of the professors Tuesday night on the college’s campus.

In addition to the rally, which attracted two dozen students on the campus quad, one alumna, Teresa Ramoni, started an online petition opposing new President Milo Riverso’s plan to eliminate 34 to 44 positions, including tenured professors, faculty and administrators through a voluntary separation program.

The resignations of the professors who take the buyouts would be effective Feb. 14, 2024, according to a copy of the agreement shared with The Riverdale Press.

Students who gathered on the quad called on the administration not to fire professors. They chanted, “This is what solidarity looks like!” and “Save our professors!” as they held signs and marched around the quad. There were also chants of, “Riverso must go!”

”When I go into class, I fear my professors might be fired,” Alexander Morel, a second-year student majoring in psychology, said.

“I had a professor come into class one day and say she was scared she won’t be able to keep her job.”

Colin Ratner, executive vice president of the student body and a junior majoring in communications, said that the student government had a form on its Instagram page for students to leave their comments or concerns, which will be passed on to Riverso.

“We’re trying to be their liaison because there’s a lot of moving parts,” Ratner said, adding that he believed the administration had the students’ best interests in mind. “We have a very solid foundation here and what we’re trying to do is make sure that foundation stays strong.”

Ramoni graduated from Manhattan College in 2020 with a degree in English, and is now a doctoral candidate at Rutgers University. Her petition reads: “In addition to previously announced decisions like school mergers and the cancellation of classes that do not adhere to new capacity requirements, Riverso’s administration plans to eliminate a number of tenured faculty according to a ‘last in first out’ system, a policy that disproportionately affects women and faculty of color and denies all tenured faculty the promise of job security that they worked so hard to achieve.”

As of Tuesday night, the petition had garnered nearly 2,400 of the 2,500 signatures Ramoni was seeking, objecting to the elimination of tenured faculty.

The buyout package offers a severance payment of one week of an employee’s current salary for every year of work at the college, up to a maximum of 13 weeks.

College officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.

On Monday, the agreement was sent to administrators and non-faculty staff members.

Current professors have declined to go on the record, for fear of “administrative backlash.”

The college’s faculty handbook, last revised in July 2022, states that  “tenure status means that a full-time faculty member has received a guarantee of continuous appointment without expiration date.” It goes on to say that “such tenure means that Manhattan College shall assure the continuous appointment of the faculty member, barring conduct clearly prejudicial to the good order or reputation of the College.”

Asked to comment, one current professor cited this section of the handbook as the source of their concern about speaking up, and potentially risking their job security.

Section 2.7.1 goes on to state, “Continuous appointment may likewise be terminated because of financial exigencies arising from changes in the financial status of the College, e.g., loss of students or discontinuation of a program in the curriculum.”

According to an article in the Quadrangle, the college’s student-run newspaper, the school is currently paying retired executives more than $2 million per year.

“We know that the annual sum those individuals are getting is $2 million, the rough equivalent of 20 tenured professors’ salaries,” Ramoni said.

In November, Riverso announced that the college’s six schools would be merged into three. The plan is to merge the schools of Liberal Arts, Health Professions, and Continuing and Professional Studies with the Kakos School of Arts and Science. The two other schools are the O’Malley School of Business and the School of Engineering.

Lydia Gray, assistant vice president for college advancement, provided the following statement to The Quadrangle in September: “The College is reviewing its current resources and exploring opportunities to reduce operating costs and realize greater operational efficiencies.

“We are not unlike many colleges and universities who, at this time, are facing decreases in enrollment, increasing costs and are examining their finances and resources, given budgetary pressures.

“The college is using a strategic approach that embraces innovation, improvement of service and growth,” the statement continued.

“We also are considering the long-range planning impacts of our decisions that will assure financial sustainability for the institution while supporting all aspects of the college’s Lasallian mission.”