UW-Platteville will slash 111 jobs, cut other spending, to balance budget

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville is eliminating 111 positions, or 12% of its workforce, the second school in the state public university system to significantly downsize in an effort to reduce budget deficits.

UW-Platteville Chancellor Tammy Evetovich announced the cuts in a Wednesday letter to the campus community. She said decisions were informed by data and focused on preserving programs that directly interact with students.

Sixty employees will be laid off or receive non-renewal of their contracts. Another 31 open positions will be cut. Thirty-two people agreed to a voluntary separation agreement; 20 of them work in positions that won't be re-filled. Eleven faculty are retiring.

Chemistry professor Chuck Cornett said the numbers weren't nearly as bad as he anticipated a few months ago. That's in part because enrollment grew by about 250 students after years of decline.

Even so, the number of job cuts are the largest Cornett can recall in his 22 years on campus.

"It's still an incredibly impactful event on our community," he said. "This is a serious restructuring."

The cuts, combined with spending reductions and increased revenue, have reduced the university's 2025 deficit by $9 million. UW-Platteville will submit a balanced budget for the coming year, Evetovich said.

"I realize that these decisions are much more than numbers and budgets," the chancellor wrote. "They affect our people."

Two-thirds of the cuts were staff positions.

UW-Platteville eliminated 27 administrative and academic leadership positions over the last year, Evetovich said, bringing the highest salaried job category to pre-2013 levels.

UW-Platteville isn't alone in shrinking its workforce.

Earlier this month, UW-Oshkosh announced it will cut about one-sixth of its employees − 140 people received layoff notices last week and another 110 positions will be dissolved through retirements or vacancies − to help close an $18 million deficit.

UW-Parkside is turning to furloughs to help close its budget shortfall. Employees are required this school year to take between four and 19 unpaid furlough days depending on their base salary.

Even universities growing in size show some indications of struggle.

UW-Green Bay, which has defied enrollment trends for much of the past decade, still faces a $2.2 million deficit this year. In response, the university is laying off nine employees and scaling back some services at its branch campuses.