At Miami University, one can expect to receive an excellent education and unwavering support from the faculty. I have found this to be the strength of the university. When I think of the exceptional professors that are here, I can't help but feel disgruntled when the university announces faculty job cuts. After all, aren't these the people that make Miami great?
Listen, we know that the university is $40 million underwater. We know that much of the university's bill every year is faculty salaries. We know Miami has a more diverse array of majors than many colleges. So, the Strategic Priorities Task Force recommends closing up the leaks in the system. Faculty will have to be let go. Some of our liberal arts education will have to be compromised. It's all for the good of the university, no?
But wait a second here. What about the human toll? These are jobs that people depend on. Besides, it wasn't their decision to hire themselves, was it?
The Miami bureaucracy loves to point out that one thing that will never be compromised is the undergraduate education of Miami, but cutting faculty jobs does just that.
Why are there no consequences for the people who overloaded the budget in the first place? Faculty didn't hire themselves, and they weren't the ones who made the mistake. Maybe there are other job cuts that would make more sense.
Read More
How one professor and her classes are preserving Oxford’s Black history
By Sean Scott | March 20, 2024Jazma Sutton, an assistant professor of history, teaches The Black Midwest (HST 350Q) and Black Women in America (HST 450D) classes. In both courses, she has students working with the Smith Library of Regional History and Miami’s archives to document and preserve Black history in Oxford.
Miami faculty members recount Freedom Summer in new documentary
By Luke Macy | February 25, 2022After seven years of work, “Training for Freedom,” a documentary highlighting Oxford’s involvement in the Freedom Summer of 1964, premiered on PBS Western Reserve on Valentine’s Day.
“Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic”: History in the making
By Alice Momany | August 29, 2021In March 2020, Miami University’s archives launched “Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic,” a collection focused on life during the COVID-19 pandemic.