Penn State University officials announced Tuesday that nearly 400 of its Commonwealth campus employees have accepted a buyout, resulting in a 10% reduction in university personnel.
Earlier this year, Penn State announced that it was offering its Commonwealth campus employees an opportunity to enroll in a “Voluntary Separation Incentive Program.”
Penn State says the decision to offer the program was due to a significant drop in enrollment at the campuses while it continues to work on lowering its operating budget deficit.
University officials say Commonwealth campus enrollment, in particular, has decreased by approximately 24% over the past 10 years.
“Penn State has been making adjustments to address the reality of changing demographics in Pennsylvania and across the country, but these small changes are not enough to position the University for the long term, We have to make fundamental changes that create the most efficient organization possible in delivering on Penn State’s mission.”
In total, 383 employees and staff participated in the “voluntary separations,” which is expected to save the university an estimated $43 million.
“We knew we had to lower personnel costs, and the VSIP allowed us to do so in a way that we felt would be as compassionate as possible, putting decisions in employees’ hands while presenting opportunities for the University to transform its operations We must find ways to be more efficient in using the University’s limited resources while continuing to deliver on our land-grant mission to create new knowledge and lift up students from across the commonwealth and beyond through higher education.
They helped us do that, and it has presented an opportunity to reconfigure our operations across our campuses to make each Penn State campus stronger and more viable.”
Penn State previously stated that “involuntary layoffs” are still possible in the near future.