March 11, 2025
Dear Regents, President Ono, and Executive Vice Presidents,
We, members of SACUA, write to express objections to the recently announced policy that requires academic deans to submit all staff and faculty hiring decisions and certain expenditures for review “by the president and/or the executive vice presidents.”
At the recent Regent’s meeting, on February 20, 2025, President Ono said, “This university will remain steadfast in its commitment to academic freedom.” Shifting control of hiring and spending expenditures to the EVPs contradicts this commitment and weakens freedom of teaching, freedom of research, and freedom of expression at the University of Michigan.
Decentralization preserves the academic freedom and mission of each unit and allows for greater flexibility and responsiveness.
In previous years of financial crisis- in the wake of the recession of 2008, drops in state funding, drops in endowment value, and the COVID pandemic-the central administration has protected the deans’ authority in strategic financial planning. Deans and faculty are the
decision-makers most knowledgeable about issues impacting a school; they have the most direct and detailed understanding of the unique academic and operational needs of their program. They are also optimally positioned and informed for responsible and strategic budgetary decisions, which the EVPs/President are not.
We ask that, in the interest of our longstanding institutional norm of decentralization, the individual missions and goals of academic units, and the success of the university, you rescind this policy.
Sincerely,
The Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs (SACUA)
Approved on March 10, 2025