WSU financial chief: more cuts, layoffs are imminent

Plans for more layoffs at Wright State University will likely be announced in April.

The university will need to make cuts in order to regain its financial footing and replenish reserve funds, officials said Friday following a board of trustees financial committee meeting.

“I’d be fooling everybody if I didn’t say more cuts were coming,” said Jeff Ulliman, WSU vice president of business and finance.

Any cuts will be made to impact the university’s “academic mission” the least, officials said.

More details will become available next month as President David Hopkins has asked provost Tom Sudkamp and Ulliman to develop a plan for more savings by April 3.

An enrollment decline and investment losses mean Wright State needs to find around $25 million in savings for its FY 2018 budget as opposed to the originally projected $8 million, Hopkins has said.

The plan to increase savings will likely also call for some WSU departments or operations to merge, Ulliman said.

The board of trustees committees will meet on April 7 and will likely be discussing the new cost savings plan at that meeting.

Last month, Hopkins initiated a hiring freeze at the university for jobs that do not pertain to health, safety, compliance needs or demonstrate a “direct impact on revenue.”

The university also announced in October that it would lay off 23 employees, including six faculty members.

Wright State officials have been reducing expenses for the past year as the school’s unrestricted reserve fund dropped from more than $100 million in 2012 to $12.9 million as of June.

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