Non-tenured members of the University of Oregon College of Arts and Sciences faculty found out Monday that 79 of their colleagues will not return for the 2016-2017 academic year, according to the Register-Guard.

Contract nonrenewals were issued on Monday. The decision is reportedly part of UO President Michael Schill’s plan to realign the university’s priorities toward hiring tenure track faculty and helping students graduate on time.

Schill aims to hire 100 tenured-track faculty in the next five years.

Each of the 79, non-returning faculty members were a part of the College of Arts and Sciences. According to UO Provost Scott Coltrane, other schools on campus will probably see similar faculty cuts, especially in business and journalism.

Close to 60 percent of the removals came from the humanities department, and the rest largely came from the natural and social sciences.

This decision comes days before the Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday, where Schill was expected to address non-tenured track employment.

From 2008 to 2012, enrollment increased from 20,000 to 25,000, placing a larger load on non-tenured faculty. But since then, enrollment has leveled out.

“We need to make sure our tenure related faculty are doing the bulk of instruction,” Coltrane told the Register-Guard. “That’s what our peers do. We’re trying to get back to the ratios we had in 2008.”