Michigan State University President Kevin Guskiewicz has announced that planned budget cuts will include eliminating some staff and faculty positions, marking the first confirmation that MSU’s previously announced plans to reduce spending by 9% will affect filled jobs in colleges and administrative units.
In his email, Guskiewicz said he, Interim Provost Thomas Jeitschko and Executive Vice President for Administration Vennie Gore spent the past several weeks working with unit and college leaders to review proposed budget reduction plans, which are now finalized.
The latest update from Guskiewicz comes as MSU is navigating the threat of state funding being slashed. In the email, Guskiewicz said the convergence of factors requires MSU to adapt to the changes by putting the university on a “firmer financial footing”.
“Today, Michigan State faces external pressures such as rising employee health care costs and increased operating costs due to inflation,” Guskiewicz wrote. “We also expect to receive less money from the federal government due to research cuts and restrictions on international enrollments, although the magnitude of those impacts is uncertain. Additionally, we’re monitoring appropriations proposals very carefully as the state works to finalize its budget.”
As MSU moves forward with reducing its general fund spending, Guskiewicz said he appreciates the efforts by colleges and units to prioritize non-personnel cuts. Those cuts include reductions in travel, vendor services and programs deemed not to provide “necessary value,” as well as restraint in new hiring.
Guskiewicz said the next phase of the budget reductions will include eliminating positions across colleges and units.
“Although many units looked first to identify existing vacancies that could not be filled, there also will be some direct reductions in currently filled positions,” Guskiewicz said. “The impacts of these losses will surely touch all of us, but of course, none more so than those directly affected. I am grateful for the contributions of every Michigan State faculty and staff member, but we concluded that some workforce reductions are unavoidable to situate us to navigate our challenges and opportunities.”
The next phase of MSU’s budget process will begin in July, when colleges and units start communicating directly with employees and implementing their plans, Guskiewicz said.
“We will continue working with our employee unions, as well as on potential voluntary retirement incentive plans for some tenure stream faculty. We also will provide outplacement services to impacted employees, and the Employee Assistance Program continues to be available for free, confidential counseling services to all current employees.”
Guskiewicz said MSU is committed to ensuring that budget changes protect the student experience and the delivery of courses and instruction.
“We will continue to invest in students, ensuring a high-quality, high-value education,” Guskiewicz said. “We will maintain vital services such as police, food service and payroll at necessary levels to serve such a large, sophisticated organization. And we will continue to prioritize health and well-being and other support services so all Spartans can flourish.”
Toward the end, Guskiewicz said by recalibrating MSU’s financial planning, the university will “bolster the financial resilience needed to thrive in the years ahead”.
“We will ensure the university has the resources to uphold our excellence across our missions of education, research and outreach. And we will maintain the accessibility of an MSU education.
MSU Faculty Senate Chair Angela Wilson said it is difficult to make comments on the proposed budget reduction plans, “as these plans — other than an overall 9% trim — have been proposed by unit leaders across campus and are not broadly shared.”
“The plans have been proposals, of which aspects will be turned into implementation plans,” Wilson said in an email response. “As the President indicated, unit leaders will begin to hear about which aspects of their proposed plans should be implemented. However, as the president indicated that there will be layoffs, I am deeply saddened that members of our university community will be impacted in such a way.”
Wilson added that structural deficits are affecting universities nationwide.
“And unfortunately, these deficits do not (much) take into account the challenges that will occur as the new federal budget is implemented for the upcoming fiscal year, which will have additional significant impacts,” Wilson said.
Victor Rodríguez-Pereira, president of the Union of Non-Tenure Track Faculty, said the news of proposed budget reductions did not come as a surprise to union members.
"We firmly believe that MSU works because we do," Rodríguez-Pereira said in an email to The State News. "UNTF faculty teaches a significant portion of the courses offered at MSU. So, any changes to our faculty workforce risk increasing our workload and potentially having a detrimental effect on the quality of teaching at the university. We hope that, whatever changes in the faculty workforce are coming, they take that into account."
The UNTF has launched a petition calling for a halt to the proposed reductions, citing confusion and frustration over what the union sees as MSU’s lack of transparency about its financial situation.
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