CMU president announces 7 percent revenue decline, staff and faculty reductions
In an email sent from President Bob Davies to faculty and staff, he announced that Central Michigan University eliminated 80 vacant staff positions and 46 vacant tenure/tenure track faculty positions.
"Even after several initial measures to reduce expenses, including salary reductions for many senior leaders, university-wide budget cuts, a freeze on university-sponsored travel and more, our efforts were not enough to achieve a balanced budget," Davies stated in an email to faculty and staff on July 17.
In addition, the university "assessed student demand for classes and departments examined how many fixed-term faculty positions they would need to meet the demand," Davies stated. He did not specify the number of fixed term faculty members were affected by the reduced number of classes.
The university made the decision to make reductions to employee positions which were filled. Some employees were able to move into other positions, and others chose to retire.
"Out of 2,422 total positions, 48 employees were laid off," Davies stated in the email.
"Know that we will likely continue to face significant financial challenges as we move forward," Davies said. "We are still calculating the total impact of COVID-19, and we are preparing for a probable reduction in state support."
CMU is projecting a 7 percent revenue decrease this year due to declining enrollment and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Two vacant vice president positions were transformed into associate vice president positions. These positions will now be an associate vice president of student affairs and an associate vice president of government and external relations.
