Lourdes University officials are planning to layoff around six to eight administrative staff members, and lower salaries across the board in order to better allocate the 2013-14 budget of $31 million to high priority areas.
Beginning July 1, faculty and staff will experience 1 percent cut in salary, while the administration will see a 3 percent reduction.
"The board wanted to make sure that we brought in a balanced budget, and we experienced some decreased enrollment like other schools in northwest Ohio," Interim President Janet Robinson said.
Robinson sent a letter to 176 staff and 100 faculty members, last week, informing them of the impending layoffs and budget slashes.
The reason behind imposing such harsh measures on the administration and faculty is the budget shortfall and decreasing enrolments.
The university was forced to reduce its expenditure on certain operational activities due to a $1.5 million budget drop this year. They had to make compromises on conference travel, printing and postage, among other expenses.
On the other hand, this spring, the university witnessed a 5 percent decrease in enrolment from last year with 2,276 students compared to the previous 2,409 admissions.
As a result, last month, the board of trustees approved three separate financial plans for the 2013-2014 budget that would help recover $1 million deficit that was mostly caused by poorer revenue from decreased enrolments. The university is also offering a voluntary separation plan, which has been accepted by about 17 employees including some faculty members. The university is offering one to four month's salary and a health plan.
The university is expecting 2,358 students for fall 2014.
Amy Mergen, dean of enrolment, said that the decline can be blamed on the cuts and changes made to federal aids such as the Pell Grant. It is estimated that more than 250 students in the fall were affected by the modifications in the Pell Grant.
Apart from Lourdes, University of South Maine (USM) and University of Montana (UM) have also adopted similar measures.
These measures are seen as a consequence of wider state budget cutbacks that resulted in a hike in tuition to meet the shortfall. This ultimately is leading to student drop outs and falling enrolments.
Either ways, universities are bearing the brunt of the sequestrations.
University of Montana is planning to reduce its expenditure and lay off certain personnel to overcome a budget shortfall of $16 million for the next academic year and USM has already laid off seven full-time faculty members early this month in order to reduce its expenses.
