Action: sign this petition to support the actions requested in the statement below. 

Statement from MBU's School of Visual and Performing Arts: 

On November 10th, all faculty received an email from the President. In this communication, the President announced that the Board approved his list of Minors to be eliminated. This list includes 17 Minors — 6 of which (Art History, Film Production, Film Studies, Music, Studio Art, and Dance) are housed in the School of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA). 

The elimination of these Minors effectively strips MBU of Arts programing for undergraduate students.

On the same day, several faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), including some colleagues in VPA, were individually informed that their contracts would not be renewed.

Many of these terminations threaten the ongoing delivery of arts education, events, and programming across Mary Baldwin University, not only in the affected Minors and in the only remaining Major (Theatre) in VPA, but for the entire campus community. 

In the lead up to these actions, there was no consultation with VPA leadership. There was no consultation with departments about the impact of contract terminations. There was no consultation or discussion with affected departments about the viability of “teaching out” the Minors in the light of staff cuts.  Many affected faculty only found out about changes or cancellations of their Minors via the general university communication, rather than through the promised individual communications. Furthermore, there were no inquiries about the impact on teaching within the continuing Major and graduate programs, or on teaching within the Common Curriculum. 

On August 29th, the President stated: “we will approach this work thoughtfully, with clear criteria, and timelines;” he stated further, “I promise to listen carefully, honestly communicate what I think and why, and make decisions that reflect my commitment to MBU as a whole.” We wish to note that the events of November 10th happened without prior or full transparency; without published criteria or timelines; without consultation with affected faculty, departments, and administrators; and without a stated plan of delivery for the liberal arts core that President Telemeco’s November 10th email promises for MBU’s future.

In a press release to local media, the university claimed that the list of Minors was drawn up following “recommendations from a faculty-led academic portfolio review completed nearly two years ago.” This is misleading. The faculty who were tasked with reviewing Minors did not put these 17 Minors forward for elimination. In fact, the committee specifically recommended continuing most of those minors.  

In the absence of Presidential communication about a plan this Fall, a carefully-designed strategy for undergraduate residential programming was drafted by CAS leadership. This plan would have retained faculty and programming—including Arts programming—and was delivered to the Board and the President on November 5th 2025.

The Faculty of VPA have a number of questions for President Telemeco (tatelemeco@marybaldwin.edu) and the MBU Board of Trustees (boardoftrustees@marybaldwin.edu)  and invites our community to join us in asking them.

Why have decisions about academic program realignment entirely excluded the voices of students, alumni, staff, and faculty in the associated areas?

• Why have the President and the Board not taken the time to consult with VPA leadership or faculty to understand the implications of contract terminations on the delivery of programs?
• Why have academic leadership and the Board not solicited the strategic thinking and expertise of VPA leadership or faculty to help seek mutually beneficial solutions to the university’s difficulties?
• What is the university’s plan for the “teach out” of Minors when essential faculty’s contracts are not being renewed?
• Given that faculty and students have been informed that there will be no change to the delivery of existing activities, what resources is the university planning to allocate to ensure this?
• Why are programs and personnel which are central to the liberal arts core, the enrichment of student experience, and the fostering of community on campus—as well as being prominently featured in university marketing materials—being targeted?
• Why has there not been any discussion of the potential impact on future revenue generation, donations, prestige, and reputation that may result from the loss of arts events and programming?
• Who, from a place of expertise, will represent the Arts and Humanities in the President’s new cabinet? 

Our concern is that decisions with drastic and life-altering consequences for employees and students are being made without full understanding of the implications of those decisions.

We invite the President and the Board of Trustees to explain how its decision making aligns with the university’s stated values and leadership. If the university is to “remain grounded in liberal arts principles”—and its mission is “to empower inclusive leaders to create lives of purpose and professional success in our changing world”—then we challenge university leadership to demonstrate how its actions and processes reflect that mission.

We call for the President to reinstate terminated faculty and discontinued Minors. We urge him to consider the plan submitted on November 5th by CAS leadership and collaborate with current administration and faculty to curate its financial viability. We ask him to enter into meaningful and collaborative conversation with faculty, staff, and students about the future of the liberal arts education that remains at the heart of MBU’s stated mission.

~Members of the School of Visual and Performing Arts