By Denise Richardson
Staff Writer
ONEONTA _ Hartwick College cut
14 administrative and support staff jobs
Thursday, citing projected budget losses
in endowment earnings and gifts, among
other economic stresses.
The college eliminated nine full-time
and five part-time positions effective
immediately, college officials said, and
hours for seven more employees
will be reduced
across the span of a year.
The reductions yield
$361,000 in savings, officials
said.
No layoffs were made in
faculty ranks, but searches
for full-time tenure-track
faculty have been suspended
for this year, said
Francis Borrego, college
spokesman. Faculty staffing is under review.
No programs or student services have
been eliminated, a media release from
the college said.
Hartwick has previously implemented
job actions to meet budget constraints
and isn’t alone this academic year.
``The challenges that Hartwick is facing
are the same being addressed by institutions
across the country,’’ said Tony
Pals, director of information for the National
Association of Independent Colleges
and Universities in Washington,
D.C.
Institutions are laying off employees,
cutting salaries and benefits, freezing
staff levels and trimming budgets in
many other ways, he said Thursday.
Hartwick, a private liberal arts col-
lege, enrolls 1,480 students
and has 181 faculty,
including 111 full-time
professors, Borrego said.
The 14 layoffs represent
3.3 percent of the college’s
422 employees, he
said. Aramark, a separate
company, provides food
and building services.
The college is hiring
for key positions, Borrego
said, and the layoffs were
based on a position’s relevance,
not employee performance.
Hartwick President
Margaret L. Drugovich
said the positions also
were reviewed in relation
to the ``College’s Organizing
Principle’’ to be ``the
best at melding a highquality
liberal arts education
with experiential
learning.”
Borrego said most of
the staff wasn’t surprised
by the cuts, but the mood
on campus Thursday was
somber.
``We are a small community,’’
he said. ``It’s a
difficult situation.’’
Tuition, interest, gifts
equal income
Hartwick’s budget is
built upon tuition, income
from endowment and gifts,
Borrego said.
With the latest cuts,
the college’s operating
budget for 2008-09 is $45.7
million, Borrego said. Salary
increases for the past
couple of years have been
3.5 percent or greater, he
said, and the goal is to
maintain market competitiveness
for faculty and
staff salaries.
The budget for 2009-
10 is under development,
and pay increases haven’t
been determined, Borrego
said.
Expenses for a freshman
this year include tuition
of $31,330, with fees
at $870, room at $4,500,
and board at $4,185, Borrego
said. Tuition and
fees for next year will
be announced in March.
Tuition increases in the
past several years were
between 3 percent and 4
percent, he said.
Annual giving to the
college is about $2 million,
and gifts to the college
are expected to drop
between 10 percent to 15
percent in 2008-09. On
June 30, the college endowment
was $63.6 million,
and on Nov. 30, it
had declined by about 28
percent.
Economic crunch hurts
higher education
Among other institutions
reporting budget
woes were Syracuse University,
which this month
announced 48 layoffs and
the elimination of 71 jobs
for a savings of $8 million.
Schools in the State
University of New York
system await the outcome
of state negotiations for a
budget due April 1.
SUNY Oneonta, along
with other institutions in
the system, is promoting
awareness about state
budget negotiations and
the impact of projected
cuts. College President
Nancy Kleniewski reported
previously that the college
absorbed more than
$2.4 million, or 5 percent,
in the operating budget
during the current year
by holding positions vacant
and related savings.
Growing stress during
the fall term
Through monthly ``Conversations
with the President’’
meetings at Hartwick,
Drugovich has kept
the campus community
apprised of growing economic
challenges, Borrego
said.
In October, budget
managers were asked to
reduce spending by 1.25
percent, as the college
looked to cut spending
by $1.32 million in 2008-
09. Further plans are to
save $361,000 this year,
for $1.68 million in budget
savings for 2008-09 that
represents 3.5 percent of
the initial budget, Borrego
said.
Hartwick plans to cut
spending by $2.5 million
in 2009-10, the release
said.
Faculty also are part of
the equation.
“By suspending most
2008-09 searches for fulltime
tenure-track faculty
and converting these positions
to one-year term
positions or part-time
positions, we have temporarily
reduced for next
year the number of fulltime
tenure-track faculty,’’
Kim Noling, Hartwick
faculty chairwoman, said
in a prepared statement
Thursday.
A review of the academic
program is under
way, she said, and “this
program review could
lead to a reduction or
realignment of a small
number of tenure-track
and term faculty lines in
2010-11.”
Hartwick offers help to
laid-off workers
Hartwick is providing
severance packages to
laid-off employees, who
found out about the job
cuts Thursday from managers,
Borrego said. A representative
from the state
Department of Labor was
on campus to provide jobsearch
support.
Also, the college is offering
eligible employees
tuition remission benefits
for up to full-time, oncampus
study through the
spring semester of 2013,
allowing them an opportunity
to earn a Hartwick
degree at no cost.
