YSU task force still searching for funds

Staff report

youngstown

A joint task force at Youngstown State University is still looking for funds to fill a $600,000 hole to avert employee layoffs, which began earlier this month.

University President Randy J. Dunn, who is a member of the task force, said about $300,000 has been identified to fill the hole.

The task force, comprised of university administrators and four employee unions, continued to discuss options Wednesday.

The YSU Ohio Education Association, Association of Professional and Administrative Staff and the YSU Fraternal Order of Police asked to form the task force to avert the layoffs of eight union employees, one non-union employee and the director of Students Motivated by the Arts, a program that was eliminated.

Dunn announced these layoffs in September. The cost-savings plan also includes a freeze in discretionary spending, asking for voluntary furlough or vacation-day givebacks, and campus-wide operating budget cuts.

YSU has a projected $6.6 million deficit due to three years of declining enrollment and less support from the state. Dunn planned to address the deficit through a variety of ways to cut spending, including the layoffs.

University trustees met Wednesday afternoon.

Dunn noted the university has received a monetary donation from former YSU President Neil Humphrey for the Veterans Resource Center, which is slated to open in the spring to help veterans with the financial-aid process and classes. The goal is to raise $1.25 million for the project. Raised through Sept. 30 is $977,443 in cash and pledges, trustees were told.

Gary Swegan, the newly appointed associate vice president for enrollment planning and management, discussed progress in his new position, after one month. He said he’s been busy making connections and gathering information for his duties at the university for enrollment growth. The position was created in April by the trustees.

Also Wednesday, the board passed a resolution authorizing an honorary degree for Simeon Booker Jr., who spoke and was honored at the fall commencement Sunday.

Booker attended Youngstown College, where he stood up for African-American rights. Booker wrote for The Vindicator and went on to became a renowned journalist working for various newspapers, including The Washington Post, where he became the first black reporter in 1952. Booker retired from journalism in 2007 at age 88.