Amid budget cuts, WSUV halts faculty, staff hirings

Facing a near 10% budget cut this year, WSU Vancouver has resorted to leaving multiple faculty and staff positions unfilled as a workaround.

Due to the $17 million budget cut across the entire WSU system, WSU Vancouver’s budget was cut this year by $4,302,100 or 9.8%. Each campus took a cut to compensate for the loss, ranging from 1% to 10%.

Breaking down the $4.3 million in cuts by department, 50% of the cut was taken from academic programs and the library, 24% from finance, operations and enrollment, 18% from the chancellor’s division (which includes Marketing, Development, IT, and the Academic Affairs and Research & Graduate Education offices) and the final 7% from Student Affairs.

By expense category, 79%, or $3,396,766 of the total budget cut was taken from “Compensation and Benefits.” But instead of cutting existing salaries, leadership chose not to fill 17 of the 33 vacancies from last year, including nine staff positions. The cut to academic programs was primarily in this form as well, with eight faculty positions left unfilled. Notably, the psychology department has two unfilled faculty positions, and one faculty and one staff position are unfilled in the education department.

There was only one layoff in IT, although interim Vice Chancellor for Finance and Operations Damien Sinnott and his predecessor Jennifer Chambers-Taube both declined to provide further detail.

Of the filled positions, five were faculty and 11 were staff. Eight of the 11 staff positions were finance, operations, and enrollment staff, and six of those eight positions were hired following Chambers-Taube’s effort to hire facilities staff before her departure. The new facilities staff includes three custodial staff members, two maintenance staff members, and a new facilities director. WSU Vancouver also prioritized the nursing and public health programs, each of which filled two new faculty positions.

The final 21% of the budget cut was taken from “Goods & Services, Travel, and Equipment.” As explained by Interim Chancellor Damien Sinnott, this refers to the funds used by staff and faculty to purchase items, office supplies, travel, and other expenses. Sinnott predicted limited travel for professional development, as WSU Vancouver continues to clamp down on spending.