CAMDEN, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — Leaders of a Rutgers University faculty union say they're worried that lower enrollment numbers could mean canceled classes at the school's Camden campus. They also fear it could create cuts for faculty and confusion for students.
Rutgers says enrollment numbers for this upcoming semester are still fluid.
But Dory Devlin, assistant vice president of university news and media relations, said in recent weeks, numbers have shown a decline in enrolled students for its Camden campus.
She said there are several reasons behind that, including the pandemic, general trends in college enrollment, and issues with the rollout of new systems that caused some confusion and delay for students.
With lower numbers, some members of the full-time faculty and graduate worker union fear that could lead to some changes on campus.
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Rebecca Givan, president of the Rutgers faculty union AAUP-AFT, told KYW Newsradio numbers they were given show Rutgers-Camden enrollment is down by about 10%.
"People are really concerned. There's been a feeling overtime that Camden is consistently starved of resources. So Camden faculty and students have to fight to get, sort of, basic needs," she said.
Givan continued, "Seems to be the case that the administration is going to be canceling classes, which means students are scrambling to find different classes to make sure that they get what they need for their majors and minors."
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"It's a huge issue. We also think that adjunct faculty there will be, at the last minute, told that they in fact don't have classes to teach and then don't have an income. And at the same time, New Brunswick is bursting at the seams."
Givan said she'd like to see the main campus provide more resources to help them out more, as they wait to get the official word of what the fall semester will look like. Classes begin Tuesday. It's currently unclear if any classes have officially been canceled at Rutgers-Camden.
Officials from Rutgers also told KYW they're looking to move to a common application to make it easier for people to apply for the school.
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