Western Illinois University administrators are expected to announce the layoffs of dozens of employees tonight.
WIU Interim President Kristi Mindrup held an informational meeting more than two weeks ago with the WIU Faculty Senate to give them the chance to ask questions about the pending layoffs. A memo between Mindrup and the local union’s president brought to light the pending layoffs in the middle of July amid a $22 million budget deficit for the university.
Union leaders have called the proposed staff and faculty cuts short-sighted and ill-conceived for the long-term viability of the school saying it will cut into the quality of education that students receive. The university already cut three dozen employees’ jobs in early July.
WGEM reports that faculty, staff, current students, and business owners gathered yesterday in Chandler Park in Macomb for a press conference to address the pending layoffs. Classes begin in two weeks. The rally of nearly 50 people yesterday say that the effects of more layoffs are affecting students all across the state and small business owners near the campus.
It’s expected that the WIU administration and Board of Trustees will approve these layoffs at their emergency board meeting this morning. Union leaders and students say that the cuts should be phased in over time or that the WIU-Quad Cities campus should have its own budget appropriations line item in the state’s higher education budget instead of being combined with the Macomb campus.
According to WIU’s website, the campus has seen its enrollment cut in half since 2010. The university expects a population of just under 6,000 students this Fall.