SRC streamlines departments in wake of staff reduction

The Staff Resources Committee (SRC) is continuing to grapple with the task of staff attrition and departmental streamlining as a result of the financial setbacks the College has suffered since the economic downturn in 2008.

After the downturn began, the SRC recommended that the College decrease the number of staffing positions in order alleviate the budget deficit. The College implemented two early retirement plans and a voluntary separation program, and as a result it has been able to significantly reduce staffing levels without resorting to layoffs. There are currently about 860 staff members employed by the College, a significant reduction from over 1,000 positions in 2008.

Additionally, the SRC has encouraged departments to re-evaluate their staffing needs and has sought to combine the departments that have overlapping responsibilities or that serve interdependent purposes on campus.

“This isn’t just about reducing costs,” said Vice President for Administration and SRC chair Tim Spears. “It’s also about streamlining, tightening and refocusing programs.”
This streamlining process has resulted in the consolidation of previously independent departments. For example, the former Alliance for Civic Engagement, Career Services Office, Scholarships and Fellowships and Health Professions have been merged into one office and are now collectively known as the Education in Action office, located in Adirondack House.

Programs with an international focus have also made efforts to consolidate, resulting in the integration of the Rohatyn Center for International Affairs, the International Student and Scholar Services office and International Programs and Off-Campus Study.

The reduction in staffing levels and the effort to consolidate departments have resulted in an imbalance of staffing levels across departments. Dining Services and Facilities Services in particular have been affected by staff reductions, and both departments are in the process of adjusting to decreased staff levels.

For example, the Facilities Department now provides classroom cleaning three times a week instead of the former daily service, while Dining Services has decreased the number of hours the Grille, the Juice Bar and Wilson Café are open. Dining Services has also cut costs by handing off the task of catering private on-campus events to external catering companies.

In the fall of 2009, the SRC recommended a 15 percent reduction in staff positions based on 2008 levels. Now, in the fall of 2010, the SRC has determined that the College has reached a sustainable number of staff positions, and the committee has redirected its efforts to departmental restructuring and reorganization.

“We are no longer thinking about layoffs, salary freezes or major benefit cuts, but rather about finding the best ways to reconcile our ambitious institutional aspirations with our reduced financial capacity,” said President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz in his address to the College on the current state of financial affairs on Sept. 22.

While the hurdle of eliminating staff positions is now out of the way, members of the SRC and various department heads are confronted with the task of reorganizing departments and reassigning employees, a task that has proven to be stressful and laborious.

“This consolidation has led to some stresses, as some staff have had to adapt to new demands and give up certain tasks that were a part of their old jobs,” said Director of International Programs Jeff Cason.

Mathew Biette, Director of Dining Services, acknowledged that while progress has been made in campus-wide staff reduction, Dining Services is struggling to adjust.
“I understand that people are upset that Wilson Café or the Juice Bar aren’t open on Sundays, when they want it most,” he said. “I understand that. But just because I understand that doesn’t mean I have the capacity to fix it. It’s a hard request to meet.”

Members of the SRC as well as senior administration officials have emphasized the importance of communication between departments in order to facilitate the concessions and compromises that still need to take place in order to resolve these glitches.

“I, along with SRC members and all of our managers, will need to give extra thought and attention to how we communicate around issues involving reduced services and changes in a department’s set of responsibilities,” said Liebowitz in his Sept. 22 remarks. “We have made too little progress in this area.”

Despite the complications the SRC now faces as a result of staff reduction, Spears suggested that these readjustments have forced the school to become more flexible.
“It’s not bad to be in a position as an institution to be flexible and nimble enough to sort of reorganize yourself from time to time in order to meet changing needs,” he said. “It’s important for any institution to be able to adapt, but adapt in such a way that we still keep the primary mission of the institution intact: educating students.”