LEO Statement On 1U Victory

we can act now to make sure the $20 million is used to support students, reverse damaging cuts, and restore lecturer jobs.

We are proud to share that the One University campaign has recently achieved a historic victory in its fight for equitable funding for Dearborn and Flint students.

Thanks to eighteen months of organizing by 1U’s coalition of students, faculty, and community members, UM’s 2020-2021 academic budget includes a special appropriation of $20 million for Dearborn and Flint. The money is earmarked to support student recruitment, retention, and graduation at these campuses.  Many of the Regents see this as the first year of ongoing annual support for these campuses to further those initiatives.

Thanks also to Regents Jordan Acker, Paul Brown, Shauna Ryder-Diggs, and Denise Illitch, who voted “no” on the original budget. As a result the administration doubled the amount in the shared fund from $10 to $20 million. (Check out the Record’s detailed breakdown of the AA, DB, and FL budgets.)


But there’s a catch: Dearborn Chancellor Grasso and Flint Chancellor Dutta, subject to the approval of President Schlissel and the Regents, get to decide how to spend the windfall.

The next few weeks will be critical to push the administration to address demands outlined in the One University proposal, principally extending the Go Blue Guarantee to Dearborn and Flint, and rolling back harmful austerity measures impacting lecturer faculty and students.

The $20 million, if split evenly, represents increases of 8.7% and 6.3%, respectively, of the Flint and Dearborn General Fund budgets for next year. This is substantially more than the 5-7% cuts both Chancellors have ordered thus far. Surely it is enough to reverse lecturer layoffs. Currently 123 in Flint (41% of all lecturers) and 42 in Dearborn (15% of all lecturers) are on full or partial layoff for fall.

Along with the One University coalition, as lecturer faculty we can act now to make sure the $20 million is used to support students, reverse damaging cuts, and restore lecturer jobs. Please take a moment to:

Send an email to Chancellor Grasso supporting the position outlined in this message

Send an email to Chancellor Dutta supporting the position outlined in this message

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