 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
 |
|
||||||
|
||||||||
 |
|
|||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
|
|||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
 |
|
|||||||
 |
 |
 |
Layoffs: Part of larger picture of employee reduction at UGA |
| By Tom Jackson |
|
| When the university
announced the layoff of 47 staff members on April 8, it was the latest
impact of an ongoing state budget crisis that has seen total UGA employment
decline by 650 positions in the past year and a half. While that’s a big dent for the workforce to absorb, until this month the tightened hiring requirements that had held selected vacancies open following retirements or resignations were successful in staving off layoffs. But since last fall, senior officials have realized that if state budget reductions proposed for fiscal year 2005 were adopted, layoffs would be unavoidable for the year beginning July 1. “We can’t consider the impact of just these 47 layoffs apart from the larger picture,” says Arnett C. Mace Jr., senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “As of July 1, the university will be operating with some 700 fewer employees than it was two years ago and a budget that’s $74 million less. We were fortunate to manage resources carefully and avoid layoffs until now, but the loss of our valued staff members has been going on for some time.” “Originally, more employees were facing layoffs than the current 47,” says Andy Brantley, associate vice president for human resources. “As word of potential layoffs circulated, a number of employees found alternate positions inside or outside the university and others chose to retire before their positions were eliminated. However, we are less concerned with the numbers than the impact on individuals’ lives and the workload impact on remaining employees. We will continue to focus on assisting laid off individuals as they seek new positions.” Agricultural units across the state felt the cuts of 18 positions scattered through the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. “The cuts to the B-budget units have been particularly severe, and our reductions were made in units that were simply out of money to pay these people,” says Dean Gale Buchanan. Three other positions were reduced to part-time jobs. The Georgia Center for Continuing Education sustained 18 layoffs, including the closure of the American Language Program, which helps potential international students, their spouses, and others in the international community to improve their English-language skills. The program was dependent on grants and fees and had been unable to improve its fund raising to cover costs. “Due in part to the effect of immigration restrictions following 9/11, the program was operating at an annual deficit which the Georgia Center simply could not absorb,” Mace says. “While this was without a doubt valuable assistance for individuals hoping to gain admission to UGA, the fact is that the great majority of our international students have excellent TOEFL [Test of English as a Foreign Language] scores and gain admission to the university without this extra assistance.” Elsewhere in the Georgia Center for Continuing Education, 11 media-related employees originally slated for layoff were instead administratively reassigned to the university’s public affairs office, including five with radio station WUGA, three engineers, two photographers and a videographer. “The mission of these positions appropriately falls within the university’s public affairs operation and the service they provide is institution-wide,” Mace says. “In particular, maintaining a first-rate public radio station is an institutional priority.” Even so, four media services personnel were laid off, and two others chose retirement. In the Vinson Institute of Government, the cuts result from two state Department of Human Resources contracts lost to state budget cuts. Under one, the Vinson Institute has been providing mental health board training for DHR, and under the other has been providing training in child and family health policy. Public Service and Outreach also eliminated its support for the Museum of Natural History, which now will be funded only from the instruction and research budgets, and eliminated positions in marine extension and international public service and outreach. “Our top priority is helping those who are laid off to find suitable employment at UGA prior to June 30,” Brantley says. “In the event someone is not employed by June 30, we have plans in place to provide additional assistance at that time, but we hope it won’t be necessary.” Human Resources will provide training to increase chances of being placed, hold group counseling sessions, and provide individual counseling for employment, training and benefits concerns, Brantley says. Through Oct. 31, laid-off employees may: • access UGA’s Employee Assistance Program for potential emotional, financial and legal issues; • take advantage of all services available to alumni through UGA’s Career Center, including career counseling; • attend training programs available through the Training and Development Department; • retain their UGA e-mail accounts and UGACards to use e-mail in their job searches and continue to access campus events and services; • retain their existing parking permits at no additional cost; • retain their existing Ramsey Student Center memberships if prepaid through October. |
|