UNC system could lose 2,000 jobs

The News & Observer
January 14, 2011
BY ERIC FERRERI - STAFF WRITER
CHAPEL HILL -- Public universities have put plans together to deal with budget cuts of 5 percent and 10 percent for 2011-12, and data presented Thursday suggest large job losses.

A 10 percent cut could lead to 2,000 job cuts across the UNC system, including 1,000 faculty members, according to data discussed by the UNC system's Board of Governors.  A 5 percent cut would eliminate 900 positions, including 400 faculty members. Systemwide, UNC has about 47,000 employees.  The cuts would help the state close a budget gap estimated now at more than $3.5 billion.

Budget cuts have become an annual exercise for the UNC system, which has taken more than $600 million in cuts over the past four years. But campus chancellors had long planned for cuts by holding positions open rather than filling them. Doing so has protected at least some workers from layoffs - until now.  "We have pretty much cleared out those vacant positions," said N.C. Central University Chancellor Charlie Nelms. "They're pretty much gone. Now we're talking about people."

...  The effect on students would be evident when they try to register for classes. By eliminating hundreds of teaching positions, the UNC system also would lose thousands of course sections.  With a 5 percent cut, 2,750 course sections would be lost; with a 10 percent cut, that number would swell to 6,400, according to the data.

At N.C. State University, Chancellor Randy Woodson said difficult decisions will have to be made.  "Those are dramatic numbers," Woodson said. "We're going to have to protect our core strengths."  Click here to read more.