Dear President Schrader,

We are writing to express serious concerns about the administration’s current approach to austerity measures. Every semester since you have joined the York College community, your administration has tried to enact class cuts and austerity measures on the backs of faculty and staff, and at the expense of a declining student body, creating malaise and instability at York College.

The decision to cancel classes to achieve a 10% cut in the adjunct budget and freeze academic hiring raises significant questions about the institution’s commitment to its core academic mission. This strategy will result in massive job losses for our colleagues and continue a downward spiral in student retention. Students do not want to come to a place suffering from serious instability.

These measures stand in stark contrast to the continued expansion of administrative roles at the highest salary levels, including the addition of multiple Vice Presidents, Deans, and other senior positions such as Associate Provost and Director of Academic Affairs. At present, the institution now supports five Vice Presidents and four Deans, while also increasing titles and salaries across numerous administrative roles.

This imbalance suggests that austerity is being disproportionately borne by academic programs, faculty (especially adjunct faculty) and ultimately students, rather than being shared equitably across the institution. Reducing course offerings and limiting faculty hiring risks undermining educational quality, access, and long-term institutional strength. If we are truly to care for and educate the diverse student body for which York is deservedly recognized, we need to offer as many sections as possible, not enact or threaten to enact severe class cuts every single semester. Investing in our students now will foster greater retention in future semesters. This is about taking care of the students we have so that they can reach their goals of graduation and professional or further academic success.

President Schrader - do the right thing for York students, staff and faculty. Please allow all classes offered to run and open more sections that meet student needs as student demand becomes evident.

And please tell the Chancellor that the York situation is unique. Our college is uniquely fragile and endangered. We need latitude to grow our way out of this crisis in an appropriate time frame and should not be forced to endure even more catastrophic cuts to our already cut-to-the-bone academic offerings.

We, the undersigned, ask that the administration pursue a more balanced and transparent approach to budgeting: one that places students, faculty and staff at the center of decision-making. We demand that you stop the cancellation of classes and cease the constant threat of cancellations every semester. Please work with us to find another way forward that doesn’t threaten our jobs, our students’ classes and the stability of York College.

President Schrader – DO THE RIGHT THING!