With school closures and students being forced to complete their classes virtually, the University of Montana is one of the latest to get hit by COVID-19 as it considers cutting some of its adjunct staff, according to the Missoulian.
The decision comes before the kickoff of the fall semester, while schools and universities still try to adjust to the new normal as the current spring semester wraps.
Administrators for the University of Montana are said to be evaluating classes led by faculty members who are not tenured, and determining if said classes can be given to a tenured professor, according to the Missoulian report.
A spokesperson for the university, Paula Short, added that there’s no exact amount of people the school is looking to lay off right now.
Provost Jon Harbor also released a statement on the ordeal. He said, according to Missoulian:
“Every year we look at courses and personnel to make decisions about which adjunct faculty to re-hire for the next academic year, and to decide what courses our tenured and tenure track faculty will teach,” Harbor wrote in an email.
“It is our responsibility as stewards of state funding and student tuition to ensure that we are using our resources as effectively as possible. We are doing this now so that our adjunct faculty will know well ahead of time if they will be re-hired for this coming year, and what they will be teaching.”
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