Utah State University leader: There's no way ‘to avoid job cuts'
In a recent message to Utah State University employees, the school's interim president said layoffs are inevitable as the school implements House Bill 265 — the recently passed legislation requiring the state's degree-granting institutions to reallocate millions to programs determined to be of highest value.
'There will be no way to avoid job cuts — personnel are the primary cost of an institution like ours,' wrote USU Interim President Alan L. Smith.
Smith's sober message to USU employees reflects the challenging budget decisions all eight of Utah's public colleges and universities are managing to comply with the controversial new directive to develop 'strategic reinvestment' plans.
In the coming weeks, USU and the state's other public institutions of higher education will present their strategic plans to the Utah System of Higher Education and, later, to state lawmakers.
If their recommended reallocations are approved, they can reclaim the 10% of their annual budget that was cut earlier this year as part of the strategic reinvestment process.
USU's interim leader noted in his recent message that he 'share(s) the concerns' being felt by many across the Logan campus at a moment of historic budget upheaval.
'I wish there was an easy solution to our challenges, which include the disruption to research funding and persistent cynicism about pursuing higher education despite strong evidence of its personal and societal value,' wrote Smith.
'Regardless of how we find ourselves in this situation, we must tackle the challenges and tasks required of us today while working to change the prevailing narrative about the place of education in our society. We will proceed accordingly.'
Smith noted that the university is working to manage a $4.8 million budget cut from the 2024 Legislature even while addressing the $12.5 million being withheld, at least temporarily, through HB265.
'If our proposal is accepted, we will then recover these dollars, but they must be spent in the proposed new ways,' wrote Smith. 'These ways will naturally align with our mission and various strategic priorities yet will only be achievable by pivoting away from some of our previous structures, programs, and people. This will be incredibly hard for us even if in the interest of the long-term health and success of USU.'
The school's interim president added that the school is managing an accelerated timeline to develop their reinvestment proposal. 'We need to provide our plan to USHE in early May.'
The process, he assured, continues to be 'iterative, context-seeking and evolving' as university leadership receives feedback from USU employees.
'In the coming weeks, we will begin by sharing information on administrative, operational, and structural changes that will be implemented,' wrote Smith. 'This will be followed by information on programs to be discontinued or modified.
'By working in this sequence, we endeavor to find efficiencies and opportunities to recover dollars in a way that is least impactful to our people, while complying with the letter and spirit of HB265.'
Still, he noted, job cuts will be unavoidable.
Last month, Smith announced that USU will be implementing a university-wide voluntary separation incentive program for eligible employees.
Applications for voluntary separations are being accepted through May 2, and will then be reviewed by college leadership.
'There is no guarantee of approval, but we will strive to approve as many as possible to help address last year's legislative cut and, where aligned with our strategic reinvestment planning, this year's budget task,' wrote Smith.
'Additional personnel cuts required by our strategic reinvestment planning will be achieved through a reduction in force.'
In his recent message, Smith also addressed how the school plans to proceed with general education and research activities considering state legislation and federal executive orders.
'These domains of work are part of the context surrounding our decision-making, of course, but necessarily will be addressed in more detail at a later time. I have directed the team in central administration and our deans to focus primarily on our reallocation planning in light of the accelerated time frame to submit our plan to USHE.'
Attending to all of the budgetary concerns facing USU before proceeding with immediate HB265 plans would be ideal, Smith acknowledged. 'But this is a luxury we do not have.'
'Naturally, in our reinvestment planning we will work to leave ourselves as many degrees of freedom as possible when we later turn to other challenges'
Reallocation plans continue to be developed at the other degree-granting public schools across the state.
Spokespeople at Utah's largest universities — the University of Utah and Utah Valley University — have told the Deseret News that their respective strategic reinvestment plans are well underway. Details are pending.
Meanwhile, Weber State University plans to release its reallocation plans on April 21. It will then be submitted for initial approval of USHE by May 9.
Key administrative positions at WSU have already been eliminated, after attrition, to date, including:
Vice President of Information Technology.
Assistant Vice President of Regional Partnerships.
Vice Provost for High Impact Educational Experiences and Faculty Excellence.
Training Lead for Student Success.
Dean of the Moyes College of Education.
WSU has also announced plans to realign academic programs in the Moyes College of Education among closely related colleges, according to the university.
New 'academic homes' are being determined for four departments: Child & Family Studies; Teacher Education; Health, Physical Education & Recreation; and Exercise & Nutrition Sciences.
Students on those impacted paths will reportedly be able to finish their degrees — and new students will have the same opportunities, only under different organizational structures and leadership.
Like Utah State University, WSU announced its own 'voluntary separation incentive program' for eligible employees in academic affairs.
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