“Moment of crisis for Salisbury University.” Community frets over looming 2025–2026 budget cuts

On April 15, the Salisbury University American Association of University Professors (SUAAUP), an organization that aims to advance the interests and goals of SU faculty, released an emergency statement regarding the proposed budget for the 2025 to 2026 fiscal year that includes over $10 million in cuts.

Maryland Maverick News

April 17, 2025

2–3 minutes

By COLIN McEVERS

On April 15, an organization that aims to advance the interests and goals of SU faculty released an emergency statement regarding the proposed budget for the 2025 to 2026 fiscal year that includes over $10 million in cuts. The Academic Affairs division is set to bear 60% of these cuts, or $6 million.

“The Administration’s rapid and unilateral approach for budget reductions has compelled us to act quickly,” the letter said.

The author acknowledges that the budget cuts stem from Maryland’s budget deficit, which currently sits at approximately $3 billion. However, the letter criticizes “the rationale that Academic Affairs should bear 60% of the budget cuts simply because it comprises 60% of the budget” as flawed, lacking consideration of this division’s immense significance to the functionality of SU.

The emergency statement, sent out by Assistant Professor Michael McCarty, who is a leader of the Salisbury University American Association of University Professors (SUAAUP), cites public records which show that many administrators received salary hikes of approximately 9% in the 2024 to 2025 fiscal year, despite faculty and staff salaries only increasing 4.5%.

Charts showing increases salaries for members of the SU administration, shared by SU faculty. Graphic courtesy of *The Bury Post.*

In a recently released email written by Provost Laurie Couch that was sent to a group of SU faculty members, Couch encourages recipients to work towards fostering unity in this time of struggle.

“I know it can be tempting to fall into an ‘us vs. them’ mentality when resources are tight,” she writes. “Psychologically speaking, scapegoats make us feel better, but creating an antagonistic atmosphere on top of the stress we already are facing is not at all productive.”

“So, please help me stop any negative chatter about Academic Affairs vs. other divisions when it comes to resources. More importantly, please help me squelch ‘faculty vs. administration’ narratives so we can work together effectively to protect and strengthen the University.”

In the email, Couch asks the recipients to read a document titled “Guiding Principles for Budget Reductions in Academic Affairs,” and states that the budget cuts will be a prevailing matter for the next several years, meaning that discussions regarding reduced budgets are being held “with the assumption that the changes we make will be permanent.”

The Provost received a 9.38%, or $30,000, raise in the 2024 to 2025 fiscal year.

This chart, created by an anonymous student and sent out via a letter titled “The Bury Broadside,” shows administration salary increases.

An SU professor who wished to remain anonymous for fear of administrative backlash claims that most of the folks spreading these publicly available documents and related information are individuals who have a background in finance.

“They know numbers, they’re the people who are saying, ‘hey, wait a second, this is not only fiscally insane but [also] corrupt,” he said.

The professor expressed concern with the permanence of these budget cuts, claiming that the changes will sever the academic integrity of the institution. He also criticized the comparatively large increases in the annual salaries of the administration over the past few years.

“The administration knew from the state that we were entering into a period of difficult budgets in the coming years, so why did they still make the decision to give these exorbitant increases to administrators that create such a sizable financial burden going forward?”

Featured graphic: Colin McEvers/TheBuryPost

3 responses to ““Moment of crisis for Salisbury University.” Community frets over looming 2025–2026 budget cuts ”

Martin

April 18, 2025 at 1:15 pm

Thank everyone who was involved in making this information public. You should post some of the staff members salaries, which would show the President’s raise is more than some staff make in a year. It’s a disgrace that SU is offering staff a 1% raise this year because of ” budget cuts”, then see the raises from 6% to 13.9% for a specialized group. It’s truly disgusting.

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jensor06

April 19, 2025 at 9:39 pm

wondering if this could be one of the reasons why my daughter received no financial aid package for her freshman year even though other schools offered us at least something ???

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anondruid

July 6, 2025 at 4:59 pm

I know the professors I work closely with as a student are frustrated and angry right now. Laurie’s choice of words is damning. Her saying “help me squelch faculty vs. administration narratives” and urging people to avoid ‘scapegoats’ is an obvious admission of fault. In other words: “Stop blaming us for the negative consequences faculty and students will face from these cuts while we give ourselves hefty raises!” We don’t need a “scapegoat” if what they’re doing and saying is simply corrupt. They are avoiding accountability and trying to tell everyone to “settle down” while they go on blameless. No, instead we must keep making a ruckus until the money that went towards making their 6 figure paychecks even bigger goes back into the whole point of higher education.

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