Protect PTK Researchers at UMD
President Darryl Pines & Provost Jennifer King Rice
Higher education is under attack from a federal administration that seeks to undermine our research infrastructure for political gain. Faculty at UMD conducting crucial research in fields like climate science, environmental justice, health equity, and more are being targeted with devastating funding cuts because their work goes against the White House's anti-science agenda. Professional-Track (PTK) faculty whose jobs rely on federal partnerships are vulnerable.
Despite repeated requests, University leaders have not provided the information or resources needed to defend PTK researchers. Our requests are reasonable: we seek information about the extent and impact of the cuts, and concrete action steps to mitigate the effects on PTK faculty of funding cuts.
Tell University administrators: we deserve to know what you're doing to protect our jobs and maintain the integrity of the University of Maryland's research infrastructure!
Petition by
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To:
President Darryl Pines & Provost Jennifer King Rice
From:
[Your Name]
We, the undersigned, are both appalled by the impact of the federal government's attack on higher education and extremely unclear on the university’s response plan. The administration’s silence on how the state and university can respond reduces morale and productivity when we all need to pull together more than ever.
In particular, the degree of uncertainty faced by PTK research faculty, whose jobs rely on federal partnerships, is unacceptable. With research funding cut or imperiled due to political battles, hundreds of UMD and USM researchers have faced and will continue to face imminent layoffs. That so many people are unnecessarily in the dark about their immediate futures compounds the stress on not only these researchers, but the morale of the faculty and campus as a whole.
Despite these difficult circumstances, it does not have to be this way. The university can and should do more to protect this vital research workforce. We call on the university to provide greater transparency of information regarding the magnitude and effects of the Trump administration's attacks on our research infrastructure, and to commit publicly to action steps to avoid permanent job losses.
Specifically, we ask that you provide the number of faculty (PTK and tenure-track), by university department and federal agency, who:
- Are employed through cooperative agreements with federal agencies
- Are otherwise funded by federal grants
- Have already been terminated
- Are funded by federal grants that, in the absence of renewal, will run out at the end of Federal FY2025, with dollar amounts
- Are funded by federal grants that, in the absence of renewal, will run out partway during Federal FY2026, with dollar amounts
- Are experiencing a withholding of allocated federal funding, with dollar amounts
- Rely on federal research facilities
- Are on H1B and J1 visas, and how these visas are being funded
Further, we urge you to:
- Investigate, pursue, and implement sources of bridge funding for faculty whose federal funding is likely to end
- Provide a mechanism whereby faculty can contribute sick leave to faculty who face termination.
-Commit to maintaining faculty access to email, as well as library access, so that researchers can continue working amid these abrupt and unexpected transitions.
- Commit publicly to other contingency plans to allow such faculty to maintain employment status and access to scientific resources. Such plans may include part time contracts to extend funding or the use of university office and laboratory space, research facilities, and computation resources to allow a continuation of research
- Commit to maintaining tuition remission and other benefits for faculty who lose their jobs as a result of loss of federal funding or closure of cooperative institutes
- Commit to further legal action in conjunction with the Maryland Attorney General in the event that federal departments withhold allocated funds or other resources from cooperative institutes, as the USM has done in recent and ongoing cases with other grant cancellations
We look forward to an era of greater transparency and support for the faculty who advance the University's research mission every day.