Approximately 164 Western employee positions will be eliminated before the next academic year as part of a $12.1 million cut to the operating budget for the 2009-11 biennium.
Western President Bruce Shepard wrote in a report on the draft operating budget that the impact of the decision will be mitigated by cutting vacant positions first and trying to help employees whose positions will be eliminated find other positions within the university. Still, Shepard estimates 25 people will be laid off who will not find a suitable position elsewhere at Western, while 40 people whose contracts are up for renewal will not have them renewed.
Paul Cocke, director of University Communications, said the eliminated positions are primarily administrative staff. Faculty will not be affected as much because the budget cuts to colleges were at 5 percent, while cuts in all other areas were at 7 to 10 percent.
Ron Riggins, interim dean of the College of Fine and Performing Arts, said personnel typically make up 80 to 90 percent of the budget, and only so much can be done to attain the level of reduction required before the university has to make decisions to reduce personnel.
“I think the difference in this budget environment than in previous ones is that you really didn’t have choices this time,” Riggins said.
Chyerl Wolfe-Lee Director of Human Resources said each department had to do a functional analysis to determine which positions to eliminate. She said departments had to examine the role of each position while incorporating Shepard’s bottom-up approach in the decision-making process.
Bill Lyne, president of the United Faculty of Western Washington, said the university has been committed to making sure as few people as possible lose their jobs. He said while the cuts have been hard on everyone, the administration’s transparent planning process has created a tremendous amount of solidarity between employees and the administration.
“This is no fun for anybody,” he said. “But because the process has been so engaged and open, the morale here is much better than at other state universities.”
While nobody is arguing that important unfilled positions in the university are being eliminated or put on hold, Riggins said it is humane and consistent with the values of Western to cut unfilled positions before cutting filled positions.
No positions have been cut in the College of Fine and Performing Arts, he said. The only open position in the college is a tenure-track printmaking position that has been put on hold. The position will continue to be filled with lecturers until the college has the money to hire a full-time faculty member.
No tenure-track faculty members at Western will lose their jobs, but about 30 to 40 non-tenure track faculty will not have their contracts renewed, Lyne said. With approximately 300 lecturers at Western, that number could be a lot worse, he said.
Riggins said colleges were most protective of tenure-track faculty. Lecturers do not always plan on coming back year after year and know there is no guarantee of employment beyond the contract they have, he said.
“Their commitment was to those faculty who serve central roles and are the long-term contributors to the life of the departments,” Riggins said.
Wolfe-Lee said all employees who are in positions that will be eliminated, including lecturers, can use the newly established Outplacement Center to gain skills and assistance from Human Resources in finding a new position at Western or in Whatcom County.
Western adopted a temporary internal hiring policy in January, she said. The Outplacement Center looks at the qualifications of employees who need a new position and tries to match them to something similar to their old positions or to a position they could learn.
About 50 employees who are in eliminated positions or who just want training to be marketable have accessed the resources provided by the center, she said.
Wolfe-Lee said while she understands this is a difficult time for a lot of people, the proactive measures put in place by the administration have made all the difference.
“I think [the Outplacement Center] was really very well done. It was one of the things we did right,” Shepard said.
The center will be offering a session on May 21 for any employees who wish to learn about job security.
Western information technology specialist Patty Bover is among the group of employees whose positions have been cut. She said because she has the least seniority in her position on campus, it is not in the best interest for anyone at Western to hire her, and she has not been able to find another position at the university.
Bover, who was hired last September, said while she does not have any bitter feelings about losing her job because she was the last one hired, she hopes the administration does not downplay the effect this has had on employees. She said this has been the best job she has ever had and she hates to lose it to a budget shortfall.
Bover said the Outplacement Center is trying to help her find other employment outside of Western.
The center has compiled a list of 50 employers in the county who are hiring – many more than people might think, given the economy, Wolfe-Lee said.
Lyne said the budget cuts are going to have detrimental effects, but a bad situation was kept from getting any worse because of the way the administration and union worked together in Olympia. He said there was only so much Western could do to protect people.
Human Resources has established an Outplacement Center to assist employees who are or may be impacted by the University’s involuntary reduction in force. Their objectives include 1. Understand their benefits 2. Market themselves online 3. Create professional cover letters and resumes 4. Interview 5. Utilize job search resources
OC is having a session on May 21 concerning job security
Administrative Center B 405 32nd Street 3rd Floor Bellingham, WA 650.3774
For more information visit www.acadweb.wwu.adu/HR
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