University of Delaware announces layoffs, other measures as budget deficit grows

[TexasTowelie]

The University of Delaware said it is facing a budget deficit of about $250 million this year, as significant revenue loss and increased expenses from the COVID-19 pandemic strain the university's finances.

On Thursday, the university announced another round of cost-saving measures that included layoffs, a voluntary retirement program and voluntary staff hour reductions.

There will also be unpaid leave and temporary reductions to retirement contributions.

Thursday's round of cuts apply to university staff members only, not faculty members. UD administrators have begun talks with the faculty union. Those negotiations will be dependent on how many staff members choose to take the voluntary retirement or reduced hours, university spokesperson Andrea Boyle Tippett said.

Read more: https://www.hockessincommunitynews.com/story/news/2020/09/24/university-delaware-announces-layoffs-budget-deficit-nears-250-million/3516189001/

[woodsprite]

1. Yeah. Hubby and I both are affected by this.

It’s an administrative department so we're in the 35% cut group despite the increased dependency on our staff. Nothing regarding faculty yet, if they’ll be included or not, and haven’t heard regarding other union work classes yet.

With everything online our kid has extremes in profs this semester: one class is scheduled 3x wk, but the prof only meets with them one of those days. The other days they are assigned YouTube videos. You’re not supposed to ask any specific questions of either her or the ta’s, and you’re not supposed to send email. In the other class, the prof meets with the class 6x during the week, even if it’s a discussion the ta is running or a workgroup session, and as long as she’s online and not actively teaching, she makes herself available for questions or consults in “office hours”.

Regarding the layoffs, I suspect this is only round one. About half the comments by readers both in the Newark Post and Delaware Online are generally nasty to both UD and it’s employees. UD is one of the largest employers in our local area. Pretty sure most are trolls since quite a few bring up “The Biden Institute” in their comments.

🙁

[TexasTowelie]

2. I'm sorry about the news for both your husband and yourself.

It doesn't sound like your child is getting a quality education if one of the professors only shows up for class once a week and there is no interactive among the students, instructors, and teaching assistants. I'm glad that there are sites for "rate my professor" so students in subsequent semesters can view his ranking and avoid those classes.

It doesn't come as a surprise that the comments section of the local newspapers are nasty to the university or its employees. Jealousy among those that don't have an education or that tried to get hired at UD and didn't receive a job offer.

Having grown up in a small rural town and then moving to another small rural town that had a university I would definitely pick the latter. Apparently others in that community share my feelings because one of the "townies" and her husband contributed $15 million to Southwestern because of its impact on the community even though neither attended college there. The wife had piano lessons from one of the professors as a child and saw the influence of the arts department throughout town even though there were only about 5,000 people living there when she was young.

Good luck and I hope that both of you remain employed and your child receives a quality education.