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Nonunion staff at YSU volunteers to concede $350K
By Denise Dick
Youngstown
More than 160 of the 211 nonunion administrative employees at Youngstown State University are volunteering $350,000 in concessions.
Last month, YSU President Cynthia E. Anderson sent a memo to university professional/administrative exempt employees asking them to make voluntary sacrifices. That request had followed Anderson and her cabinet agreeing to take six unpaid furloughs this year.
Of the 211 personnel, 165 agreed, amounting to $351,484, or about $2,100 each.
“I want to thank all of these employees for voluntarily participating in this cost-savings effort,” Anderson said in a news release. “Their sacrifice reflects their understanding of our financial circumstances, their willingness to help us address those circumstances and their continued commitment to YSU and our students.”
It’s unspecified whether the 165 opted for unpaid furloughs, forfeited vacations, monetary contribution to the university or some combination.
Participants in the voluntary cost-savings program include professional and administrative staff employees, including the president, vice presidents, deans, department chairs, executive directors, directors and managers, who are not members of a campus bargaining unit.
Ron Cole, a university spokesman, declined to say whether YSU was satisfied with the number of people who agreed to the voluntary concessions.
“I’d rather just let the news release speak for itself,” he said.
Anderson’s request to the employees was voluntary because they are under contracts that started July 1, YSU has said.
Anderson requested the concessions because of a $7 million deficit caused by a loss in state funding and an enrollment drop this semester. Fall enrollment fell 4.3 percent, from 15,194 in 2010 to 14,540 this semester.
University trustees are to meet today in a retreat where they are expected to review the budget and develop a plan to address the deficit.
Though the furloughs are voluntary this fiscal year, Anderson’s memo says it’s possible mandatory furloughs will be implemented next year.
The unions representing both faculty and classified employees agreed to contracts with no pay raises for two years and a 2 percent raise the third and final year. Both pacts also include increased health-insurance contributions for employees.