Western announced more layoffs Monday morning as the university continues its efforts to address a recurring deficit of $18 million.
Last fall, the university said it would be eliminating 55 positions, but on Monday, March 3, officials upped that number to 74 positions. Thirty-six of those positions are currently vacant. The university budget challenges have stemmed from lower enrollment during the COVID-19 pandemic, insufficient state funding and higher goods and services costs, leading to a recurring deficit each year of around $18 million.
So far, the university has identified $13 million in reductions. In the fall, the university restructured several of its administrative departments, and Provost Brad Johnson has been working on “reducing parallel structures” in academic units, President Sabah Randhawa said in a Monday morning email. Western has also reduced goods and services and software costs.
But Randhawa said to meet the additional $5 million in needed reductions, the university must further reduce permanent positions. Human Resources is notifying the affected employees, who are mostly in administrative and support roles, according to an FAQ published by the university.
“These decisions are not being made lightly. We have tried to be strategic in assessing functions and positions across the university, with an initial focus on reducing vacant positions,” Randhawa said in his email. “Nevertheless, I fully recognize the impact on employees affected by reductions — either directly or through the bumping process necessitated by labor contracts, and I am saddened that they are losing employment with Western and the disruption this will cause in their lives.”
Western’s budgetary future is still uncertain, and Randhawa said the university’s “financial situation will continue to evolve.” In the FAQ, the university did not rule out future staffing cuts.
Last week, Gov. Bob Ferguson recommended to the Legislature a 3% cut in operational funding for all four-year colleges in the state. For Western, that would mean a $7.47 million cut in state funding at a time when the university has been asking the state for more money to address its deficit and disparities in per-student funding with other institutions.
Randhawa wrote in a letter to the Office of Financial Management on Feb. 5. that “adding an additional three percent reduction in state funding to Western’s existing budget challenges would compromise the future of the University in significant ways.”
The House and Senate will release their draft budgets later this month, and the budget will be finalized in April, when it is passed to Ferguson to sign or veto.
Charlotte Alden is CDN’s general assignment/enterprise reporter; reach her at charlottealden@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 123.
