The University internally announced plans late Monday to cut four schools and eliminate some staff positions to reduce its salary budget by 2.75 percent, as mandated by the Arizona Board of Regents.
If approved by regents, the University will cut the Department of Kinesiology, the School of Health Management and Policy and the School of Design Innovation. The Mary Lou Fulton Institute and the Graduate School of Education will be combined into the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College.
Students will still be able to major in kinesiology, interior design, industrial design, visual design and health management and policy, the majors offered in the departments facing disestablishment, said University spokeswoman Sharon Keeler.
All students in academic programs will be able to continue these programs on their current campuses, she said.
The announcement came in an e-mail Monday from ASU President Michael Crow to University management.
“We will be working with faculty individually to determine the best fit for them going forward,” Crow said in the e-mail.
Keeler said the proposed changes will reduce administrative overhead, consolidate support services and promote natural collaboration among faculty.
The University is still in the process of determining how to meet the 2.75 percent cut, which is estimated to be between $5 and $6 million, through reducing administrative costs, she said.
Some staff members will be laid off and positions will be eliminated, Keeler said.
Faculty senate president Rojann Alpers, who met with administration to discuss the changes, said no faculty members would lose their jobs.
But even with these cuts, the 2.75 percent reduction mandated by the regents will not be reached, she said.
“Faculty will be given the opportunity to self-select other units that they would like to become a part of,” Alpers said.
Crow said all faculty and staff have been notified of the changes.
“Targeted reductions” would be implemented in administration, Crow said, but the details are still unclear.
“We are still in the process of determining how to meet that cut through reducing administrative costs,” said Virgil Renzulli, vice president of public affairs. “However, there will not be a 2.75-percent across-the-board pay cut.”
Alpers said more cuts could come in the form of planned retirements or administrative support lines.
The Mary Lou Fulton Institute and Graduate School of Education and The Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, which houses the design innovation school, underwent mergers in the past year, saving the University $2.7 million.
“We are working in concert with administration,” Alpers said. “If this proposal is deemed the best thing going forward, then it will be supported.”
The University faculty senate will officially review the proposal on April 5 and address administration with recommendations or additional concerns in May.
The proposal must still be approved by the Board of Regents.
Reach the reporter at kpatton4@asu.edu
