The following post provides information specific to Gallaudet University, the world’s only liberal arts university exclusively for D/HH students, in the wake of the Department of Ed’s layoffs last week.
For a general overview of that news, click here. For more information and action items specific to Gallaudet University, click here.
For an ASL version of this material, see Amy Cohen Efron’s vlog below.
Note- the author of the letter below is a source with knowledge of the federal government, writing on condition of anonymity:
I don’t usually comment on Gallaudet, but as a former employee of the university, this is too important to not discuss because of the university’s significance to the Deaf community. Someone sent me the message from Gallaudet’s president yesterday, which I read with consternation. The language used implies either sheer ignorance about the reality on the ground or, worse, an intentional misleading of the community as to what has happened with the Department of Education (ED) and its liaison for the special institutes, including Gallaudet.
As a result, the community does not understand the facts or the seriousness of the situation, and the university administration risks creating further confusion and division among the community when it is crucial for the community to understand how to advocate most effectively for the preservation of Gallaudet and its future.
From the president’s message:
“The Department of Education has implemented significant layoffs, affecting nearly 50% of its workforce, including our liaison. While the Department of Education is required to assign a new liaison, it is unclear how and when this will happen. The Department of Education has confirmed that our funding is secured.” [Read/View full message here]
This message mischaracterizes what has happened and is blatantly disingenuous about how it can be fixed. Let’s walk through this:
1. OFFICE/POSITION ELIMINATED: The position of Director/Liaison of the Special Institutes is in the Office of Policy and Planning (OPP), within the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS). OPP was eliminated completely (see link for org chart). This means that the liaison position is gone … as in it no longer exists. A new liaison cannot be designated when the position does not exist anymore.
2. POSITION NOT TRANSFERRED: Reduction in force procedures allow for transfer of functions and make it clear that employees performing these functions “have the right to move with their work to another organization if the alternative is separation by RIF” (OPM guidance). There is no indication that the duties and functions of the liaison have been or will be transferred to another department or agency. All evidence indicates this position is fully eliminated with no plans for continuity of functions.
3. NO TRANSITION PLANNING: Because of attrition, deferred resignation, and VERA, numerous vacancies existed before the layoffs began (see org chart). With these preexisting vacancies, the vacancy rate at ED is effectively over 65%, not 50%; within OSERS’ Office of the Assistant Secretary, the only person left is the assistant secretary. On top of that, ED employees who took retirement were immediately put on leave March 11, and the layoffs were equally as abrupt. This means it would have been impossible to conduct any level of transition planning to ensure continuity of institutional knowledge and understanding of how to perform functions … precisely because the intention was to not have these positions anymore. If the liaison position is restored but the employee not reinstated, this lack of transition planning will hamper any new employee in being able to do the job effectively.
4. HIRING FREEZE: Even if the liaison position still existed, the administration has implemented a hiring freeze for all but immigration enforcement, national security, and public safety. In addition, the EO prohibits the creation of new positions. Without significant pressure on the administration, it is very unlikely an exception will be granted to hire someone into the restored liaison position.
5. LENGTHY HIRING PROCESS: Even if an exception is granted to hire someone into OSERS for the Secretary to designate (appoint) as the liaison, the federal hiring process is extremely long. It can take four months to a year to fill a vacancy—and four months is considered “speedy”! The escalating disruptions to human resources staffing and processes government-wide threaten to make this process even longer.
6. REEMPLOYMENT PRIORITY LIST REQUIREMENT: Assuming the layoffs were done in accordance with legal requirements for reduction in force, as described on OPM’s website, ED is required to give reemployment priority to anyone they laid off through RIF. Therefore, the person who was laid off when the liaison position was eliminated has priority to return to the position, making it disingenuous for Gallaudet to call for a new liaison to be appointed.
7. GAP IN FUNDING MECHANISM: While the continuing resolution does appropriate funding for Gallaudet, as the president’s message states, there is an additional critical step of obligating funds, which is how the funds land in Gallaudet’s bank account. Congress grants legal authorization to spend funds (appropriations), the authorized person signs the paperwork to spend the funds (obligations), and then the funds are disbursed to the recipient. In short, obligation is like opening a door to allow funds to go through. Generally, authority to obligate funds is given to the secretary of a department, who then can delegate that authority to a subordinate. The Secretary of Education likely delegated authority to the liaison, who would then have been trained and certified in obligating funding – i.e., the liaison signs the paperwork authorizing the funds to be disbursed to Gallaudet. Without that paperwork signed by an authorized person, ED’s financial office cannot release (i.e., disburse) the funding. Since the liaison position was eliminated, who has the authority to obligate the funding for Gallaudet?
8. FUTURE OF DEPT OF EDUCATION: The overarching issue the university administration misses is that the goal here is to dismantle and terminate the Department of Education. With ED gone, where will the liaison position reside?
With all these factors at play, for the university president to say all that needs to be done is for a new liaison to be assigned is beyond deceitful. It’s fanciful thinking that fails to grasp the full picture of what is happening.
It also demonstrates a clear lack of understanding of how the government works and the legal constraints in which it operates. The easiest, fastest, and legal route to fix this is for the liaison position to be restored at ED or its functions transferred to another department.
The Gallaudet administration needs to understand that restoration of the liaison position means reinstatement of the person laid off from the position—the focus needs to be on the position, not on replacing the person. Designating a “new” liaison, as they are calling for, would be an illegal action on the federal government’s part and likely would be challenged in court, resulting in further delays. In addition, reinstatements have been happening quickly across the federal government as the administration backtracks after finding out that certain positions are critical or required by law (example: National Nuclear Security Administration) or a judge orders reinstatements (example: probationary employees).
For the best interests of Gallaudet and its funding, the university administration needs to focus on advocating for the full restoration of the liaison position, at ED or another department, and reinstatement of the employee.
The Deaf and Gallaudet communities need to band together to (1) push the Gallaudet Board of Trustees and administration to acknowledge these facts and lobby—and sue, if necessary—for this restoration and reinstatement, and (2) write to senators and representatives to advocate.
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To contact your elected official about this issue, use the letter template available here.
