Wright State campus | Photograph by Soham Parikh | The Wright State Guardian
Wright State University [WSU] President Susan Edwards issued a campus communication email announcing campus-wide hiring freezes and spending cuts.
“We’ve already taken and informed you of a number of steps to reduce expenses in the short term by instituting a hiring freeze on all non-approved external hires and significantly curbing expenditures in numerous areas,” said Edwards.
The university announced the following cost saving measures, effective immediately.
- University leadership (President, Provost, Vice Presidents, Vice Provosts, and Deans) has voluntarily agreed to take a 20 percent reduction in salary.
- Hold on all non-critical university-funded capital projects.
- Freeze on all new contractual agreements for goods and services.
- Elimination of all discretionary non-compensation spending.
- Moving campus facilities into a low energy usage mode where possible.
- Freezing all university-issued ProCards.
As some Ohio businesses will return to work this week, WSU will review a plan to determine staff plans.
This includes a possible reduction in force.
Edwards also noted that the university may need to utilize unemployment benefits where necessary during this emergency period. She noted that the university is committed to maintaining all personnel and positions.
According to Edwards, the State of Ohio has informed the university to also expect a significant reduction in state share of instruction [SSI] for both fiscal year 2020 and fiscal year 2021. This upcoming year, all public universities are to plan for a 20 percent reduction in SSI.
This would be an estimated $20 million dollar revenue loss for WSU.
In addition, the university issued more than $3 million in refunds and credits for university housing, meal plans, parking passes and applicable fees.
The university is also expecting a 17 percent decrease in summer enrollment due to the coronavirus.
Edwards also anticipates that fall enrollment will be down once again due to other area colleges and universities redirect their recruitment efforts to local direct from high school, transfer, and unemployed sectors.This is a developing story. The Wright State Guardian has contacted the Ohio Department of Education and is awaiting additional budget information.
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