Southeast Missouri State University announces job cuts; more likely

Southeast Missouri State University has eliminated 24 management and support jobs, three faculty jobs and will likely be announcing additional faculty cuts soon, university president Ken Dobbins said Friday.

The elimination of 24 jobs was announced Thursday in a "Dear Colleagues" letter from Dobbins distributed through the university's internal newswire. Of the 24 positions, 18.5 are currently filled, the letter said.

Dobbins said Friday the job cuts were part of an ongoing effort to find almost $6 million in cuts to keep the university budget balanced in anticipation of reduced state support over the coming two years. Faculty cuts are part of that review, which will be completed in February and presented to the board of regents in March.

Most faculty positions cut will be what Dobbins described as "temporary" or non-tenure track instructors. While there may also be some reduction in tenured faculty, those cuts will be made by not filling the jobs of people who retire or leave the university for other employment.

So far, university spokeswoman Ann Hayes said in an e-mail, three faculty members have been told they would not be offered new contracts.

The 24 job cuts announced will save the university about $1.1 million in personnel costs, Hayes said. Additional savings could be realized from other expenses associated with the jobs.

Dobbins refused to identify specifically which jobs would be eliminated. He said by giving titles, some of those who will lose their jobs could be identified. The currently filled jobs being eliminated include one executive, 5.5 professional and 12 clerical, technical or service positions, Dobbins wrote in the letter.

The cuts are being made now, in advance of a complete plan for meeting the $6 million goal, to give the affected employees time to find new employment, Dobbins said. The university has 14 openings, for example, and anyone being laid off who qualifies for one of those jobs is guaranteed to at least be interviewed for the opening, he said.

The job cuts take effect May 31.

"We know we are going to have to make some reductions, and we want to do it in the most humane way," Dobbins said. "We know we have jobs that are open now as people leave or retire. If we wait until March or April to tell people, those 14 jobs may already be filled, and for those whose positions are being affected, it gives them a chance to be rehired."

In December, the university established eight campus committees to look at ways to reduce spending or increase revenue. The committees were established after Gov. Jay Nixon announced that state colleges and universities would not increase tuition for in-state undergraduate students if the state maintains its tax-funded support at 95 percent of this year's level.

The spending review projects cuts needed over the next two years because Dobbins doesn't expect state revenue to rebound with enough strength for the university to expect any additional state aid. Attempting to make up the loss of state funding with tuition increases would require an increase of $20 per credit hour, or almost 11 percent.

"When we had these cuts back in 2002 and 2003, we did not pass it on to the backs of the students, and we are not doing it now," Dobbins said. "We not only have to balance the budget but we have a balancing act of not degrading our academic programs and service to students and faculty and staff, but to also operate the way we are supposed to and serve our region."

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, MO