Wayne State President Allan Gilmour sent an email to university employees shortly before 5 p.m. July 28 informing them that the university has begun a “reduction in force” to cut costs.
The number of employees to be laid off was not specified in the email, but it said most of those “affected” had already been told.
According to the email, the layoffs were caused by the $32 million cut in the fiscal year 2012 funding from the state, a result of Gov. Rick Snyder’s plan to cut universities’ funding by 15 percent, a number that would increase if universities implemented tuition increases greater than 7.1 percent. The cut is the largest in WSU’s history, Gilmour wrote.
“In response to this reduction, we analyzed every school, college and division over the past several months to identify potential cost cuts and efficiencies,” he wrote.
WSU’s Board of Governors approved a 6.9 percent increase for undergraduate tuition June 22, as well as a 7.1 percent increase for graduate tuition.
“Even with these efforts,” Gilmour wrote, “a reduction in force is necessary to balance the budget and maintain the quality of our teaching and research.”
No further layoffs are planned at this time, according to the email.
As of press time, no one from the Office of the President or the Office of Budget, Planning and Analysis was available to comment.