Warning that more difficult decisions are on the horizon, the University of Nebraska eliminated 20 positions this week as part of its effort to address an estimated $50 million fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
NU President Ted Carter said the cuts, which included reductions-in-force and slashing vacant administrative and information technology positions, were a "painful but necessary step" to begin cost-cutting measures across the university system.
"There is no question that the depth and breadth of our work will be narrower because of today's decisions," Carter said in an email to staff at Varner Hall.
The majority of NU's 14,000 employees, which include instructors, researchers, extension educators, support staff and administrators, were unaffected by the cuts.
Carter said he was working with administrators at NU's system office, as well as the campus chancellors, on "the path forward" for the university, however.
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Included in the cuts were NU's federal relations coordinator in Washington, D.C., the system's chief compliance officer who works with campus Title IX and ADA coordinators, a global engagement coordinator who works with similar positions on the individual campuses and an assistant to the president.
A university spokeswoman said the campus Title IX, ADA and global engagement offices will continue to operate without interruption.
Three open positions were also eliminated, including an internal auditor, an attorney in the general counsel's office, and a senior adviser to the president.
On Wednesday, 13 employees in the university's Information Technology Services division, who perform a range a duties keeping the technology systems running across the university, were also notified their positions were being cut.
Those included 12 full-time employees and one temporary position.
In all, $1.6 million was cut from Varner Hall — about 10% of the central administration workforce — and $840,000 from the IT office, according to spokeswoman Melissa Lee.
To begin managing the projected $50 million budget shortfall, NU has also implemented a hiring freeze, suspended all travel, ordered a review of capital construction projects and ordered its campuses in Lincoln, Omaha and Kearney to cut spending by 3% for the remainder of the year.
Carter also asked employees to continue thinking about the "next normal" in higher education.
"For those of us in Varner Hall, this will almost certainly mean doing more with less, and finding new, more efficient ways of accomplishing our work," he said. "Some of those conversations will not be easy."
Weeks after he announced a plan to provide free tuition to students from families earning less than the median household income in the state and days after he announced a plan to freeze student tuition for the next two years, Carter said his focus remains on students.
"Our primary goal will be to do everything we can to preserve the affordability, accessibility, and excellence of a University of Nebraska education," he said.
Despite operating with a budget surplus this year thanks to record enrollment, Nebraska Wesleyan University issued half-time furloughs to 50 full-time employees through July 31, a spokesman for the liberal arts college said Wednesday.
Those employees will work 20 hours a week and still retain their benefits through the summer, spokeswoman Sara Olson said.
"It was important to us that our employees remain engaged with the life of the university and know that we want them to return full-time in August as we ramp up for the new academic year," she said.
NWU, which did not qualify for the Paycheck Protection Program through the federal coronavirus relief package because it employs too many people, will also pause contributions made to employees' retirement accounts. The choice does not affect take-home pay, and allows those individuals to still contribute to their own account.
Olson said the plan was developed by NWU's Budget Committee, which includes faculty and staff representatives in a "consensus-building process" with an eye on the fall semester.
President Darrin Good said last month NWU plans to hold in-person classes this fall, and plans to compete in fall sports.
"Taking these extra steps during the summer months puts us in a strong financial position for the 2020-21 academic year and beyond," Olson said.