A Talk With President Spina and the Future of UD
(Photo courtesy of the University of Dayton’s official Instagram account @universityofdayton)
Kerry Kadel | Editor-in-Chief
On Feb. 28, Flyer News published an article containing misinformation about the status of the University of Dayton, President Eric Spina and Provost Darlene Weaver. To set the record straight, I spoke with President Spina to understand the core of the budget cuts from his perspective on March 3, 2025.
On the way to the meeting, an email was sent to students, faculty, staff and local media about eliminating a number of faculty and staff that newspapers such as The Dayton Daily News covered. I saw this email, and my nerves were set at an all-time high now.
The meeting began with me apologizing for publishing the story, since it was my call. It was impetuous and unprofessional. There was no intent to harm anyone, I had only wanted to inform students what was going on at UD in the next few years, and I learned a great deal about getting information from an anonymous source–to not do it. It was nerve-racking apologizing for something I knew was wrong on my part, and I was concerned about the reply from President Spina. Instead, I was met with kind words that I wasn’t sure I deserved.
“You learn sometimes more from the foul ups of mistakes and errors. Put it behind you and let’s move forward.”
I think in these next few years, moving forward will be the key theme and message for the University of Dayton, and with what you will, I urge you to make it positive.
Before I asked President Spina the questions I had come prepared with, he asked to say a few words of his own.
“I don’t want to preempt your question[s], but [I want to] make clear as the president today that it’s a hard day for the university, right? I mean, the folks we informed yesterday and today that they wouldn’t be continuing after this year. Our folks who contributed the university in important ways, teaching students, doing research, doing service, engaging the community…so, so tough for the university, obviously much tougher for them, their families, their friends, and that is kind of the overriding concern with trying to do this as quickly as we can over two days, but with care, keeping the media–I won’t say at bay, but really focusing on [faculty and staff].
“And then now that that’s all done, being able to speak to the media, but number one in our concerns is those folks who are most directly impacted. We are a mission-oriented university, right? Nine years here and having a strong mission that’s our guiding light that I don’t take for granted. I think we’re really blessed on a day-to-day basis.
“Part of that mission is sometimes making hard choices. [The] important part of the mission is fiscal sustainability and the long-term future of the university. [I’m] happy to answer specific questions that you have, but our frame is [that] this is unfortunate, and we understand [it] hurts people directly and that that is weighing on all of us today, and we’ll go forward. We also know that this is the right thing for the mission of the university.”
I didn’t have too many questions for President Spina, just a handful for him to answer that my managing editor and faculty adviser helped craft to get to the bottom of everything.
We heard about the contract meetings. Will you confirm for Flyer News that the contract separation meetings began on March 3, 2025?
“Yes. They were completed just [at] the end of the day today. Just to make one thing clear–this is in the message we sent out–65 people altogether, 45 faculty members whose contracts won’t be renewed after they expire this year, and then 20 staff members whose positions are being eliminated. Most of them [are] at the end of the fiscal year, June 30, but before that for one reason or another, but two different groups all notified yesterday and today. Just so we’re clear, [it’s] different kinds of faculty appointments. There’s adjunct faculty who might teach one course this fall and then in two more years, teach a course in the spring, who generally have jobs elsewhere, and they bring their expertise to the classes.
“Then we have professional faculty, and these are faculty members who are on contracts, sometimes one year, sometimes three years, sometimes rarely five years. At the end of each of those periods, whether it’s annually or every three years or five years, we either renew their contracts or we don’t. So, 45 of those faculty were told today that when their contract runs out on June–well, May 15, the end of the academic year, they won’t be renewed for next year. Then, there’s a class of faculty that are tenured and tenured track, who have [a] long, long, well, I won’t say infinitely long appointments until they decide to retire. So, 45 of those professional contracts are ending, and then 20 staff members who aren’t necessarily on the contract, they’re employed at will, and 20 of those positions are being eliminated.”
President Spina had anticipated all 65 meetings, and mentioned that back in September that his party had mentioned to the university campus community that there would be “some non-renewals” and that “there would be some staff eliminated,” which was part of the long-time planning since then.
“Nine months work to make certain how many, and then working with folks across the institution. The decisions were made at multiple levels in terms of which departments, which areas, and ultimately which people.”
The questions in preparation for this meeting with Spina began to overlap, and I made note of that to him as we continued with our talk.
Do these contract separation meetings connect to the budget problems that UD has been communicating with the faculty senate?
“Short answer: yes. A little bit of a longer answer–I wouldn’t call it ‘budget problems,’ I’d call them budget realities, right? All of higher ed [education] is just under a lot of pressure.”
President Spina then went on to explain the demographic decline in 18-year-olds venturing out to colleges.
“[There are] probably ten things I could list…the one probably at the top of the list are the demographic cliffs, so fewer 18-year-olds today and in the next 10 or 15 years as compared to the past in the midwest [is] 20% 18-year-olds. We think about fewer international students coming to the U.S., [which] decreases confidence in higher ed.
“The university, in the last year or so, made the conscious decision that one of our responses would be to get strategically smaller. So, smaller student bodies are entering classes [in] the last two years have been smaller than they were. There’s no shortage of students who want to come to UD, we only have a limited amount of financial aid. When there’s more need we can’t take as many students. So, smaller student body and, ultimately, that means fewer faculty, fewer staff. We’re actually already a thousand students smaller than we were just about a year and a half ago.” Basically, as the student body shrinks, as does the teaching faculty and various other staff member positions. “I would strategically emphasize [that] it’s strategically smaller. A lot of institutions are still trying to grow, [and] we think that’s the wrong strategy in the face of a demographic cliff for us as well as, you know, part of the magic of UD is the connectivity between people.
“And you can imagine getting so big that there’s not the same kind of merriness you need, the connectivity. Short answer is yeah, these reductions are connected to the budget challenges we face, which have not put us in a deficit situation. I think that’s important, something I’ll stress with the rest of the media later. [The] estimate is maybe half of private universities in the country are running deficits. The problem with deficits is, obviously, you’re spending more than you’re taking in over time that will catch up to you. So the trustees have made it clear, common sense makes clear, let’s not run a deficit, right? We’re getting closer and closer to breakeven. This is a way to make certain that we have what’s called the margin–excess revenue over expenses is enough so we can continue to invest, to invest in the university, [and] invest in the faculty.
“Things like build a new health and wellness center, do things like make sure that on an annual basis, faculty staff are getting salary increment. It is highly strategic and we want to be in front of it, making proactive decisions rather than beginning to run a deficit and essentially starting to shovel our way out of it, but [it’s] right for UD.”
This understanding of the budget cuts–or budget realities–was a clearer understanding as to why it was all happening, and the way that these budget realities were set in place in order to not have UD run deficits by more spending. It was finally time to close out the interview with my last question.
Is there a general statement that [you] President Spina or Provost Weaver would like to make in regard to a story that Flyer News is working on for budget cuts and contract separations?
“Yes. The right thing for me to say, because it is what we’re all feeling, which is sadness for the folks who will no longer be part of UD, so we’re going to support them as best as possible. We’re giving them the long runway, that [is] the rest of the year to complete their work, we’re providing severance packages to them based upon how long they’ve been employed by UD, [and] a number of other supports that’s being made known to them directly. Really, our primary focus today is on those folks. There’s a lot of other things that we need to continue to do to move the university forward, [such as] holistically advising, new health and wellness building, leaning into experiential learning even more, [and] the benefits of a new common academic program brings to students. A lot of other things that we can give you chapter and verse on, but I think today our primary focus is really care and concern for our colleagues.”
Anything else you’d like to say or add?
“I said up front, it’s our mission that’s more important. I’m here nine years now and I understand it better than ever after going through the pandemic, when we heard from the Marianists again and again and again, it’s the mission of the place that matters. That’s what you need to do to make certain that the mission continues, because the mission continues young people like yourself [who] are going to do something meaningful in the world. Frankly, my position and their position, and everything else are secondary to this mission.. This is an effort to make certain that we can continue to focus on what’s most important, and sometimes that’s [the] hard decisions for the university as a whole, but for the administration, [and] this is hard understanding that it pales in comparison to what those faculty and staff are feeling today.”
I thanked President Spina for meeting with me again after all that happened back at the end of February, to which he had this to say, “I said when we first met, you do important work that educates the community about things that are going on. So, anything we can do to support you in forms of information, context, whatever, [we’re] happy to provide it.”
President Spina and I agreed that we all should continue moving forward, and that what is faithfully represented here includes what’s happening and what’s not. As I stated earlier in this article, no matter what happens, UD and its community will continue to move forward, to take on battles in the academic, holistic, and worldly communities. Things will be changing, but sometimes, change is necessary in order to grow into something greater than it was before and to get back on the right track in order to thrive and sustain oneself.