EIU Releases Layoff Information

Eastern Illinois University Tuesday announced that 67 employees will be laid off to accommodate current enrollment and available funding.

In addition to the 67 layoffs, Eastern officials say more than 50 other positions already vacant will remain unfilled. 

(EASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT DAVID GLASSMAN)

The jobs involved are described as civil service and administrative and professional positions. Efforts to personally notify employees being affected began on Monday and will continue through Wednesday.

In a statement, EIU President David Glassman said, "These are excellent, high performing employees who are working in positions we felt we could no longer support financially."

Human Resources personnel, along with job supervisors, are meeting with employees individually to relay the news of each job elimination and to provide those employees with packets of information regarding the various resources available to them as they move forward.

In accordance with civil service guidelines, those eligible are also being notified of their option to "bump", or replace another university employee with less seniority in the same job classification. Glassman said, "Until that process is completed, we won't actually know which employees will be leaving the university."

The 51 vacated positions being eliminated were once held by employees who earlier retired or resigned from the university and who were not replaced.

An additional number of individuals not included in the 118 will be notified of position elimination or reduction of their annual 12-month employment to 10 or 11 months "very shortly", according to Glassman.

For several weeks, Eastern's four vice presidents have collaborated with their respective unit leaders to review budgets and develop strategies that will help manage the university's Fiscal Year 2016 budget. At Glassman's request, they each developed a division wide recommendation plan for expense cutting and related layoffs for the president's personal review. However, since Eastern still has not learned what its budget will be for the coming fiscal year because of the lack of a state budget, it can't be assumed that additional cuts won't take place this year.

Glassman has indicated he intends to discuss the cost-cutting measures as a whole and to share his vision for re-energizing the Eastern brand during his first State of the University address in September.