By Logan Monteleone
Business and Distribution Manager
13 staff members from areas across campus opened their inboxes early last month to learn that their positions had been cut for the purpose of reducing expenses. While the laid-off staff members left before spring break, many current staff are still unsure of how the responsibilities performed by individuals in cut positions will be redistributed.
“Actions like this are difficult but unfortunately sometimes necessary and not uncommon,” Chief of Staff Vic Sensenig said.
While many higher education institutions are facing the risk of funding cuts under the Trump administration’s attack on education, the majority of personnel and program cuts February were the result of low enrollment and high operational costs at individual institutions, according to Inside Higher Ed.
Although WC enrollment has been increasing in recent years, overspending has put the College in a deficit for this fiscal year which budgetary measures have been implemented to address, according to prior Elm coverage.
“The positions that were selected for elimination were those that had responsibilities that could be distributed elsewhere within the area or organization,” Sensenig said.
While Staff Council Chair and Dean of Academic Advising Dr. Hilary Bateman said that this is not the first reduction she has experienced in her 10 ten years at the College, she said that for staff at liberal arts colleges “it’s not really that easy to absorb other work because everyone wears a lot of hats.”
Director of Student Financial Aid and Staff Council member Jennifer Gallagher said that Staff Council was not consulted in the decision-making process but believes that “the work left by those whose jobs were cut is being managed by those departments.”
Bateman expressed uncertainty about how positions with the most overlap were identified, but Sensenig said that senior administrators were engaged in both the process of decision-making and the distribution of responsibilities.
“The nature of these conversations varied by position and area,” Sensenig said. “The question of whether employees are equipped for their roles and have appropriate scopes is not limited to times of reduction in force.”
Bateman said she respects the decision made by the President’s Office to protect the privacy of individuals who were laid off by only including the scope of terminations and not individual names or position titles in the mass communication to staff. She said that it would have been helpful, however, to have received information about when affected staff should expect to receive information about increased responsibilities.
Although communication could have been clearer, Bateman said that the College administration is handling the situation well overall.
“Leading in calm times is so different than leading in challenging times. So it’s been interesting,” Bateman said.
Photo by Selena Francese.
Photo Caption: The College is keeping the names of the 13 laid-off staff members anonymous.