Kent State University has announced layoffs will be part of a bid to offset a projected $18 million budget shortfall during its next fiscal year.
KSU President Todd Diacon announced during his April 30 “Talking with Todd” video feature that projected cuts from the university’s $720 million budget will include eliminating as many as 45 “currently occupied positions” out of the university’s 3,408 employees across its campuses.
Diacon said the exact number has not been decided, but employees whose positions are selected for elimination will “receive notices sometime in May.” Most are expected to be eligible for 90 days of severance pay.
He said the cuts amount to about 1.3% of the workforce.
“If you’re one of those employees who receives that notice, that’s 100% of your world,” he said. “So let’s just all be very mindful of the impact of those cuts on very real people.”
Diacon said that other cuts under discussion include eliminating certain contracts and unfilled positions and reducing travel expenses.
Diacon said Kent State is projected to finish the current fiscal year June 30 with a positive fund balance of $1.5 million. However, he said he doesn’t like to end the year that close to even.
Diacon said in the video that Kent State is “consistently among the Top 3 or 4 or 5 financially healthiest public universities in Ohio, year in and year out.”
“We cannot spend more money than we bring in as revenue,” he said. While the university has savings in the bank, he said Kent State won’t dip into it to balance any budgets.
“We rely on the interest from that savings to fund about $14 million for us,” he added.
Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Kent State plans layoffs over $18 million projected budget shortfall
Reporting by Jeff Saunders, Ravenna Record-Courier / Akron Beacon Journal
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