University of Missouri releases new job cut details as layoffs begin
University of Missouri officials released additional details on new job cuts hitting Mizzou as employees continued to be notified Monday of the termination of their jobs.
Some 307 administrative, faculty and staff positions are set to be eliminated. Of those, 136 positions currently stand vacant and just won’t be refilled.
Through retirement, resignation and layoffs, 171 people will no longer be working at the university.
“We wish it didn’t happen but we are also facing some fiscal realities that we have to address,” said University system President Mun Choi.
Almost half of the job cuts came out of the colleges of Arts and Science and Agriculture, as well as the School of Journalism.
Many of those eliminated positions were already vacant because of retirements or they were never filled to begin with.
Some staff and faculty employees being laid off are eligible for benefits through the university’s transition assistance program. They must have been working at the university for at least one year.
“You receive one week of pay and benefits for each year of service,” said Choi. “If the individual has served 10 years, then they’ll receive 10 weeks of support.”
You can find a link to the university’s layoff procedure as well as the assistance program here.
Some other services available to those losing their jobs include resume prep, development of job search strategies and contact information for the appropriate division of Employment Security.
Non-tenured faculty working on annual contracts are not eligible for those benefits, despite many being laid off.
“We are not disposable faculty and we deserve the same kind of protections as staff and tenured faculty,” said MU teaching assistant Nicole Monnier.
Choi said he would be working to make sure the layoff policies going forward are fair to non-tenured staff across all four campuses, since they will need to hire more.
The university is set to hire about 160 new faculty that will contribute to the school’s strategic vision. There will be about 60 new faculty for the school of medicine, 29 at the college of engineering and 22 in the college of arts and sciences.
Details on the reorganization initiatives will be announced over the next few weeks.
The university is also eliminating 86 positions in Student Affairs and Athletics. These units don’t receive funding from state revenue or tuition, and rely on self-generated revenue.
