BACKGROUND:
The Division of Labor Studies (DLS) is a statewide academic unit with tenure through IUPUI, reporting to the IUPUI Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs. In spring 2005 the Indiana State Legislature ended a $358,000 annual special appropriation for the Division of Labor Studies. IUPUI Chancellor Bantz appointed a nine-member Budgetary Affairs Committee to resolve Labor Studies’ budgetary situation, which included Vice-Chancellor for Financial Administration Bob Martin, IUPUI administrator James Johnson, two senior tenured IUPUI faculty, and five elected DLS faculty. In October 2005 the DLS BAC produced a five-year balanced budget.

Since last summer DLS faculty have cut expenditures, increased their teaching load, and radically increased income. As a result, in the just concluded 2005-06 fiscal year Labor Studies:
* Enrolled 3,600 students in Labor Studies credit courses across the state;
* Exceeded all expectations with $2 million in income, doubling the income goal set by the Administration;
* Broke records on enrollment and income for the fourth straight year, while cutting expenditures 25%; and
* Continued to expand its popular and innovative online program, which IU officials had previously hailed as a model.

Chancellor Bantz also requested that Labor Studies begin discussions with schools and regional campuses to find a new reporting line. The DLS faculty support Chancellor Bantz’s request that Labor Studies merge with another academic unit. However, as the faculty have sought to find a merger partner they have run into roadblocks. Incorrect information has been continually distributed by IUPUI spokespersons, stating that Labor Studies is in a dire financial crisis, with the result that no academic unit has expressed interest in taking in the DLS.

In June 2006 Chancellor Bantz appointed Mark Sothmann, Dean of the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, to oversee what the Administration calls “reorganization” or “decentralization.” It is clear from documents Dean Sothmann has given to members of the DLS faculty leadership committee that over the next three years the Administration plans to downsize and phase out the program – to close Labor Studies offices on most of the six campuses where it is based, fire all non-tenured faculty and support staff, and shrink the online initiative.

There is no financial basis for the Administration’s actions. There have been similar attempts to eliminate labor studies departments at universities across the country which have been initiated by Republican state governments as a result of corporate lobbying efforts. Because the IU Labor Studies crisis was set in motion by the Republican legislature and Governor, the DLS faculty believe that Indiana business interests have successfully pressured the Administration to eliminate the Division of Labor Studies because it teaches students about worker rights. Labor Studies majors and alumni, unions across the state, and a group of Indiana State Legislators have petitioned Chancellor Bantz to cease the dismantling of the DLS.


PETITION:
Labor Studies provides courses with a unique analysis of the workplace, workers’ issues, and the changing world of work in a global economy. While Labor Studies experienced a brief financial crisis in mid-2005, that crisis has passed and Labor Studies is now solidly in the black. The effort underway to dismantle the Division of Labor Studies is a violation of academic freedom and university policy.
* Threats to terminate non-tenured Labor Studies faculty should come to an end and a block on the tenure process should be removed.
* Accurate financial information regarding Labor Studies' sound financial footing should be presented to the press and to all campus Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors.
* IUPUI Administration should assist Labor Studies faculty in finding a new home within an IU academic unit or regional campus, and cease efforts to dismantle the program under the guise of "reorganization."
* Labor Studies should be given ample time – three or four years – to find a merger partner within the university.

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