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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

UMass Workers Urge Campuses to Shore Up Shortages

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Thursday, May 13, 2021   

BOSTON -- Workers in the University of Massachusetts (UMass) system say short-staffing is putting undue strain on existing employees, and limiting their ability to serve students' needs.

UMass campuses are the third-largest employer in the Commonwealth, with more than 10,000 faculty and staff, but university executives have been reducing the workforce in recent years, even more so in the last year with the pandemic.

Jariza Rodriguez, an administrative assistant at UMass Boston and a member of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, said job duties don't go away when the positions are no longer filled.

"What justice are we truly doing for the students if the services aren't of the highest caliber?" Rodriguez asked. "Because we're short-staffed, because people are being pulled in multiple different directions, because we have staff that are burning out, because they're feeling so overwhelmed."

Groups such as the Teachers Association pointed out funding is there; the university system has gained access to more than $140 million in federal aid in the last year. They urged UMass to use some of that funding to shore up its staffing needs.

Wendy Graca, a clerk at UMass Dartmouth and a member of AFSCME Council 93 Local 507, said university leadership tells employees funding is short, while at the same time insisting they work to increase student retention and enrollment.

"There has been downsizing and consolidating of departments and educational programs, switching to less expensive software licensing programs that also are less user-friendly, outsourcing some work to new non-union departments while dumping other work on remaining union staff," Graca outlined.

Graca noted the issues are campus-wide and intertwined. When campuses are short of facilities crew members, the grounds and buildings fall into disrepair. When there aren't enough administrative staff, they cannot provide support to students and faculty in a timely fashion. And without enough professors, she added, students' academics suffer.

Disclosure: Massachusetts Teachers Association contributes to our fund for reporting on Budget Policy & Priorities, Children's Issues, Civic Engagement, and Education. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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