CPSC suffers cutbacks and loses big numbers

Serghino René

After working countless jobs and taking several classes from different schools, Dianne Dujon realized she needed a degree if she wanted to make more money. In search of flexibility, she discovered the University of Massachusetts Boston’s College of Public and Community Service (CPCS) — a program made up of mainly older adults seeking to make social change — where she studied poor women’s issues. After completing the program, the program hired her to stay.

“I saw it change the life of others and my own. Nine out of ten times, the executive director [of CPCS] graduated from the program,” said Dujon, UMass Boston professor.

That was 23 years ago. Since then, she has branched out, becoming an activist for women’s poverty and writing the book “Crying Out Loud.” But today, the program that gave her a second chance and stands as a testament to her success is “under attack,” said Dujon.

The day before Labor Day, the newly appointed CPCS Dean Adenrele Awotona suddenly fired 12 non-tenured faculty — 3 full-time and 9 part-time lecturers — via email under the pretense that classroom enrollments were too low.

Awotona was unavailable for comment, but this is not the first time he has been under fire. In February of this year, 18 tenured faculty members took a vote of no confidence in Awotona, 18 to 0. Weeks later, CPCS staff and faculty voted no confidence again in Awotona, 45 to 0.

Awotona came to CPCS after a period of great turbulence. Unable to negotiate a contract, former Dean Ismael Ramirez Soto resigned the position under former chancellor, Jo Ann Gora. Soto and other CPCS staff were openly critical of Gora, often airing their frustrations to the media.

Gora left in 2004 to head Ball State University in Indiana and CPCS faculty had a wait-and-see attitude with Awotona. So far, it has been a neverending spiral of disapproval and academic unrest.

Several students attended class after the firings and were disgruntled to learn that their class was canceled. Some tenured staff were assigned to teach classes that they were not qualified to teach.

CPCS student Denise Garret was outraged. On the first day of her computer class, a graduation requirement, the professor informed the class that the course was not his specialty and that he received the assignment less than 24 hours ago. She was more disappointed to learn that a writing professor was teaching her Participation in Government class.

“It is disturbing to go to a class at a state school, like UMass, and not having qualified teachers teach because the Dean fired faculty,” said Garret.

UMass Boston spokesman Ed Hayward told the Banner that the school has been trying to reduce the number of under-enrolled classes throughout the entire school.

“There was no work for [faculty] to do. Classes were under-enrolled and the school has been trying to reduce the number of under enrolled classes for quite sometime. [UMass Boston] didn’t have the funds to continue classes with 4-5 students. That’s what students deserve and our tax payers want their money to be properly managed,” said Hayward.

The problem was that as enrollment decreased, part-time faculty were teaching classes that full-time faculty could acquire. In other instances, some part-time professors were teaching full classes while full-time professors teaching the same classes were short on students.

Within the last decade, the number of CPCS students has decreased from 900 to he current enrolment of 300 students. Out of 66 sections, 26 CPCS sections were canceled. Throughout the university, 91 out of 1,500 classes were canceled. Dujon says that CPCS has seen more damage than any other school at the university because over 40 percent of the CPCS curriculum has been canceled.

“No other college was impacted so disproportionately as was CPCS,” said Dujon.

Faculty, staff and students protested at the UMass president’s office in downtown this past Tuesday morning and Wednesday afternoon.

“I think the university is turning its back on minority students. We need some attention,” said Dujon.