WIU to cut 89 faculty, staff positions and make changes to Quad-Cities campus (2024)

Western Illinois University leaders announced more details aboutongoing staff reductions, including changes to Quad-Cities campus operations.

According a WIU news release issued Friday, the university will cut 57 faculty and 32 staff positions, as part of a "cost-containment" strategy toward better fiscal sustainability. Those are in addition to 35 faculty contracts that were not renewed earlier this summer.

"The decision comes after extensive exploration of a variety of cost-saving measures and reflects WIU's commitment to a financially sustainable future," the release states.

Forty of the 57 faculty positions set to be axed will be "Unit A" employees, which include full-time professors and tenured faculty. The remaining 17 layoffs will be "Unit B" employees, comprising associate faculty and academic support staff.

Per WIU Board of Trustee regulations and contractual agreements, Unit A faculty will have the academic year to continue to teach, and Unit B faculty will remain on contract through the fall semester, Friday's announcement said. Additionally, civil service employees were provided 90 days notice of termination.

"In order to address financial stability, we must recognize that our institution, like so many others across the country, must be the right size and the right shape to serve this number of students," WIU's Interim President, Kristi Mindrup, said in the release. "I want to acknowledge the gravity of these decisions and the profound impact they will have on our dedicated faculty and staff, and the impact personnel reductions have on our Macomb and Quad Cities communities."

WIU Human Resources will offer support to all affected employees, the release said, including: counseling services, a fall semester job fair and four "Rapid Response" sessions over the two campuses. These sessions will feature presentations from the Illinois Department of Employment Security and the State Universities Retirement System.

Additional cost-savings measures at WIU listed in the release include:

Changes will also come to the WIU-QC campus in Moline, including relocating 16 faculty and staff positions to the university's main campus in Macomb next year.

This is due to adjustments in WIU-QC program offerings and "streamlined" building operations, per Friday's announcement.

"The Quad Cities Campus will continue to offer select undergraduate and graduate programs on campus, and students will have access to several online programs," the release states. "Students will also have access to student services, activities and amenities, and the campus will continue to house the Small Business Development Center, WQPT and other (WIU-QC) partners."

WIU leaders will continue looking for other ways to increase revenue or reduce costs, the release said.

Merrill Cole, president of the WIU Chapter of the University Professionals of Illinois (UPI Local 4100) and a professor at the Macomb campus, issued a response to Friday's announcement:

"We are angry and deeply disappointed by this administration's decision," he said. "Despite their lofty goals and compassionate rhetoric at Tuesday's Board of Trustees meeting, (Mindrup) and her team have chosen to devastate futures, families, and communities rather than devise a real solution to address WIU's fiscal challenges."

Cole said the layoffs are "not a plan," but a "desperate" attempt by WIU administration to appear to be taking bold action.

"Students, faculty and staff, and community members know better," he said. "We will continue to fight to save our members' jobs. Past layoffs have made matters worse by lowering enrollment and decimating educational programs and student services. This is a lose-lose proposition for students, the university, and our regional economy."

He urged Mindrup and WIU leaders to "do the right thing," and work with UPI to "stop the layoffs."

"Together, we can develop a serious long-term plan that will build— not break— WIU," Cole said.