KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Budget constraints will cost 78 University of Tennessee-Knoxville employees their jobs, Chancellor Bill Snyder said Thursday.
Employees were notified Thursday morning of the layoffs, effective June 30. UT-Knoxville has approximately 4,600 employees.
Snyder said the reduction in force is necessary because next year’s budget is about $7 million higher than projected revenues.
All UT-Knoxville departments have cut their budgets for the 1997 fiscal year. Snyder said reducing the impact on students was the top priority in all budget decisions.
“This reduction in force is a very painful but necessary action,” Snyder said. “Since approximately 75 percent of our expenditures are for salaries and benefits, we could not make cuts of this size without a reduction in force.
“The university will do all that it can to help these individuals find new positions. Our human resources staff is working with the career services office to provide a complete package of out-placement services.”
Fifty-five of the 78 employees to be laid off are in UT-Knoxville’s Computing and Administrative Systems unit.
Snyder said funding of some computer services will not be paid from a central or campus-wide account after June 30. UT units needing those services will have to pay for them out of departmental funds.
“Since all units have made budget cuts, recoveries from the departments will not be sufficient to avoid the reduction in force in the computing area,” he said.
Sixteen departments will lose employees, Snyder said. With the exception of the computing area, most have fewer than five employees being laid off.
The chancellor and the staff that report directly to him made cuts ranging from 8 percent to 12 percent. Academic unit cuts averaged 4.2 percent, he said.
In 1991, UT-Knoxville had a reduction in force of 44 individuals in custodial services.
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Contact: John Clark (423-974-2225)