The University announced on Friday that 15 to 20 classified staff – hourly employees – will be laid off. According to a release, Rebecca Ferguson, assistant vice president for Human Resources, said the final number of layoffs won’t be known for several days because classified employees have the ability to move into vacant positions or ‘bump’ other workers in their classification who have less seniority. Those hourly employees who do take the lower position will be offered the same benefits but at a lower pay scale, Marketing and Communications Director Dave Kielmeyer said. ‘I sat down with Human Resources on Friday night to discuss who has taken the layoffs or who has taken the bumps, and so far it’s a mix,’ he said. ‘There are some advantages for both, but so far, it’s all across the board.’ Since last fall, the University has cut about 70 jobs through eliminating vacant positions, attrition, retirements and layoffs. ‘We’ve worked very hard with the vice presidents, deans and others with budget responsibilities to eliminate vacant positions and taken other steps to try to reduce the number of people affected,’ Ferguson said in the release. Faith Olson, Classified Staff Council chair, said she received the call from Human Resources about the layoffs at 6 p.m. on Thursday. She was back in the Human Resources office at 6:30 a.m. on Friday, offering support to those who were being laid off. ‘We have known for some time that something was going to happen and that there would be job eliminations, we just didn’t know when they would occur,’ she said. ‘Human Resources has handled the layoffs very professionally and the council has been very supportive during this tough process. ‘Someone in CSC leadership is at the meeting with the employee and Human Resources when they are being told they will be let go or displaced,’ she added. ‘We support them through this difficult time, ask questions that should be asked, inform them of things they should know and overall just let them know they have choices.’ The council has been working with the classified staff on how to be prepared if a layoff should occur, according to Olson. They have offered seminars and classes on how to be prepared, how to better manage money, how to get out of debt, how to set up a budget, retirement plans and so on. Job services teams have been in to speak to the staff and attention has been paid to the importance of nutrition and exercise. ‘We’ve had these professional development classes about healthcare and how to be a better healthcare consumer because things like this matter,’ she said. ‘These lessons prepare people for a time when things are not as good as they were before and we are trying to be proactive in helping.’ Although the layoffs have come at a tough time, Kielmeyer said the staff is still offered continued healthcare benefits for up to 18 months through the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. Sixty-five percent of the COBRA healthcare costs are covered by the federal stimulus package. Staff who have family taking classes at the University or are taking classes themselves are also being compensated with a year-long fee waiver, offering continued tuition benefits to those who have involuntarily lost their jobs, Kielmeyer added. Olson said the CSC is still available to help those who have had their jobs eliminated or are being displaced. ‘We are here to help, but we can’t change the process,’ she said. ‘We can support them and if [the staff] has knowledge of what their choices are, they can handle change. I am a firm believer that knowledge is power, power to determine destiny. When they have enough knowledge and information, they can make wise decisions about theirselves and their families.’ In order for the University to offer buyouts to laid-off employees, Kielmeyer said there must be 50 layoffs at one time. He said he does not predict 50 layoffs happening at one time. Kielmeyer said the University will try to avoid further faculty layoffs. ‘We are doing everything we can to protect the core education, so I think the faculty will be less affected’ he said. ‘We are working as hard as we can to reduce the impact of all this. Layoffs are not something we like to do, but that is just what the situation called for.’