Tight budgets spark talks of unionizing university faculty
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) – Faculty members are talking about setting up a union at New Mexico State University as budget issues persist and departments prepare to reorganize.
Emails provided to the Albuquerque Journal (http://bit.ly/2kCdd4i) show the faculty discussing the possible union come from various departments at the university.
Professor Ken Hammond says efforts to unionize have fizzled out at least three times in about two decades.
He said faculty members are now concerned and even threatened by state-level funding issues as well as how budget decisions will be made.
University system Chancellor Garrey Carruthers is spearheading reorganization efforts to make management and colleges more efficient.
It’s unclear what the restructuring entails or if colleges would combine programs and eliminate others.
He said the academic restructuring process planned for the spring will include faculty.
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Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com
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