Wright State to start issuing layoff notices to 26 employees this week

» NEW: Wright State issues layoff notices: 5 things to know

In June, president Cheryl Schrader said that as many as 40 employees could be terminated but that number shrunk because of already vacant positions. WSU employs 3,346 people including around 824 full-time faculty and 1,311 full-time staff, according to the university

Wright State will offer affected employees career counseling, resume assistance and contacts for unemployment benefits among other things, according to the email. Employees who are laid off and their dependents will also be eligible for tuition remission for up to two years, according to WSU.

Once employees are notified that they will be laid off, Wright State will allow them to search for a new job “during work hours,” according to the human resources email.

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“Any time we talk about a layoff among our friends and colleagues it really is a very difficult conversation,” Schrader said in June.

The layoffs are part of the latest budget cuts at Wright State as school officials anticipate revenue to decline by around $10 million during fiscal year 2019, which started July 1.

When trustees slashed more than $30.8 million from last year’s budget, they planned to lay off around 120 employees but attrition allowed administrators to shrink that number to around 47.

» RELATED: WSU board chairman cautions university: ‘Keep eyes on the road’

Revenue declines in FY 2019 will largely be the result of another decrease in enrollment, according to the university’s budget. State appropriations are also projected to decrease by around $1.4 million.

Enrollment on Wright State’s main campus is projected to decrease by 6.5 percent overall, amounting to around an $8 million drop in tuition and fee revenue. The tuition and fees students pay is Wright State’s largest single source of revenue, as it is for most colleges.

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