Cultural Centers Versus the Budget Deficit

The University of Northern Colorado is in the difficult process of making decisions regarding their $14 million dollar budget deficit. On Nov. 17, the office of the president announced that 50 staff positions and 35 vacant positions would be “permanently eliminated.” One of these positions was the assistant director of both the Native American Student Services (NASS), and Asian Pacific American Student Services (APASS).*

This announcement was a follow-up on a public forum that President Andy Feinstein held about budget cuts and the measures the university will have to take to face this financial challenge. How Feinstein and his administration have handled budget cuts and staff layoffs has been controversial amongst the student body, especially the cuts made to student affairs in particular.

“Everything’s on the table, for consideration, it has to be, when the university is looking at a $14 million dollar budget cut,” Keith Humphrey, vice president of student affairs said. “Always, you know, in my approach, as we have been working through budget cuts in student affairs, has been to find ways to look for options that don’t eliminate or close services.”

The impact of the laid off staff has on different programs across the school has been palpable. No group on campus feels the effect of these layoffs more than the cultural centers.

The cultural centers, beacons of the UNC community and hot spots for student involvement have had their staffing stretched thin. NASS and APASS were already operating with bare bones staffing. Johana Flores and Eryka Charley held down four full-time positions between the two of them, as director and associate director for both cultural centers. In early November, Flores was let go by the school.

“They offered a lot of a mentorship role to a lot of the students there," Vincent Paser-Reinis said. "I know when I was personally going through a lot, they helped guide me and make good decisions about it. I know a lot of other students have had similar experiences."

Reinis is one of the many students in NASS and works as a student staff member for the cultural center. To them, these layoffs are detrimental to the wellbeing of the thriving student base. NASS even has had to look for outside help and volunteers to throw what would otherwise be smooth sailing events.

“We thankfully were able to do okay because we had volunteers, but it was very emotional for us. She normally helps out with other aspects that my other director didn’t know what they needed to prepare for because she was not longer able to communicate,” Reinis said.

Only a few days after this event, and within the week of Flores being let go by the university, Charley resigned. Doing the job of what is normally four full-time staff positions, associate director and director for two different cultural centers, proved to just not be worth it. Charley left her position at UNC after 11 years of service.

In response to this, Humphrey reached out to NASS and APASS students to try and confirm university support for the cultural centers.

“I want to assure the UNC community that the Kohl House will remain open and that the programs, services, and activities of APASS and NASS will continue in this time of transition," read an email from Humphrey about Charley’s decision. "When we begin a search for the next leader of these programs, students will be involved in helping us identify the qualities and characteristics we seek in a new leader as well as participation in the search committee and selection processes.”

Student involvement in that process came a week later during a meeting between Humphrey and the NASS and APASS student groups. Over 30 students and alumni made an appearance at this panel to air out their grievances with the management of the cultural centers and make suggestions on who should be hired in the wake of Charley's resignation.

Humphrey explained that the hiring process will be broken up into two parts. First, one interim director for both cultural centers will be hired for the next six months. Students will not have input on that hiring process outside of the forum explaining what qualities they want in a candidate. Then, the university will look to hire a permanent candidate, who will fill the role as director of both cultural centers. In this second hiring process, students will have a lot more input, going as far as being on a committee that will help vet candidates.

This proposed process was met with critique and questions such as "Will the interim director be able to throw our big events next semester?" or "Will the interim director have enough cultural knowledge to distinguish between our two groups?" and "Will the director be able to do the job of what was once four people?" almost immediately by the students at the event. 

“A thing we discussed a lot while we were in there was cultural erasure… We do not have a voice, let alone our own cultural center," Reinis said. "Many students in the past have worked to establish our voices, establish communities on campus. So there’s already been many conversations about forcing identities of NASS and APASS to share a center, to share a director.” 

The budget cuts that have moved APASS and NASS students to act are not only affecting these two cultural centers. Seeing the discourse amongst NASS and APASS leadership has caused students in other cultural centers to worry. Students like Rhye Ann Sanchez who are part of other cultural organizations on campus, like Mexican American Studies Society (MÁS) and the César Chávez Cultural Center, worry what the budget cuts might do to them.

“I imagine going into the MÁS room and seeing that it's closed or seeing that my professor’s door is closed. I think that all of those doors being closed is kind of a representation of the fear that we have,” Sanchez said. “I think that’s what my main issue is. I shouldn’t have to worry about if my department is still going to be there.”

The university is currently in the process of fielding applicants for the interim APASS and NASS director.

*This story was originally published with a factual error, stating that the director of NASS and APASS position had been eliminated. This is incorrect. The assistant director position was eliminated, but the director position remained.