Time to Regroup: Staffing Decisions in a Recession

Writing in Business Officer, Karla Hignite reviews the logic and reasoning behind a number of institutions' decisions about how to handle cuts in employment due to the current financial crisis. She describes actions and planning at Florida State University, Skidmore College, St. Catherine University, Valparaiso University, Cornell University, and includes a sidebar with suggestions from the College and University Personell Association (CUPA-HR).

In response to market realities and the uncertainties that remain, colleges and universities across the country have engaged in major cost-cutting initiatives to meet budget. They've done so with extreme care, however, knowing that faculty and staff are critical to institution mission. Even in situations that have required elimination of whole programs and associated personnel, decisions have been largely collaborative and transparent, as leaders aimed for the right combination of actions with the least impact on students—and that avoid outright layoffs wherever possible. In the process, tough conversations and strategic review of priorities have given many leaders renewed energy for repositioning their institutions and rethinking how people are organized and how work gets done.

This article highlights the recession-related staffing decisions implemented at several institutions, where leaders are focusing their sights for the out years.

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