(Courtesy of UMass Boston)

The University of Massachusetts Boston, facing a $22 million budget gap, is moving to cut hundreds of teaching positions before the Fall 2016 semester.

UMass Boston's faculty union says notices were sent out last week to a third of the school’s non-tenure-track faculty.

"We were very alarmed by this," said Marlene Kim, a labor economist and president of UMass Boston's Faculty Union.

The faculty union says any cuts or shifts will undermine quality, increasing class sizes and making it harder for students to graduate on time.

"With enrollments increasing and the number of faculty reducing, classes will either be larger or there will be fewer classes," Kim said. "It may take longer to graduate if students can't take the calsses they need to fulfill majors." 

University officials say they’re redesigning the fall schedule to meet student demand more efficiently, and will reassign some of the teachers in the process.

The faculty union has requested an explanation from the university on the timing of the redesign, but administrators have not yet responded.

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