Three-year program announced to fund strategic growth and address budget issues

University of Akron President Scott L. Scarborough announced today a three-year plan to address the university’s significant financial challenges.

The plan was drafted following a 9-month review and analysis of University finances. Leadership of the Faculty Senate, the campus chapter of the American Association of University Professors, and a representative of department chairs, participated weekly in the budget process that led to the development of the plan.

“The University of Akron’s future is bright, but first we need to fix its finances,” President Scarborough said. “Our review indicates UA has a $60 million financial problem, and we have developed a three-year plan to solve that problem.”

The plan protects the University’s core academic mission, its quality, and its connectedness to the community and the region it serves.  It reduces University expenses by $40 million, raises graduate tuition and undergraduate fees by $10 million, and projects profitable enrollment growth in the third year of the plan by $10 million.

Addendum: See July 20 statement about upper division program fees.

UA Board of Trustees Chair Jonathan Pavloff said, “These actions reinforce our ability to invest in those things that move our University forward on the path to significance and strength.”

The $40 million of expense reductions include the following:

• Eliminating 215 positions via a planned reduction in workforce.  No faculty layoffs are occurring.
• Eliminating baseball.
• Eliminating non-academic programming in EJ Thomas Hall, except for rentals.
• Outsourcing dining services.
• Renegotiating healthcare plans.
• Increasing the cost share of retiree dependent coverage.
• Changing the University’s retire/rehire policy.
• Centralizing course scheduling.
• Reducing central costs, such as legal fees and University memberships.

“The most painful but necessary reduction is the abolishment of filled positions,” said Scarborough. Affected employees will be notified later this month, after the University ensures it has complied with all applicable government regulations and contractual agreements.

“We are working hard to ensure that our colleagues whose positions will be eliminated are shown the respect and courtesy they deserve,” Scarborough said. “We owe them our thanks and appreciation for their years of service to the University.”

The University’s financial plan and budget funds new college strategic plans, leverages UA’s historic strengths, funds new initiatives to grow future revenue streams, and includes funds to maintain and enhance academic quality consistent with its goal of becoming a great polytechnic university like Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.

In a message to campus, Scarborough said, “We know that the next few weeks will be tough.  After that, we will refocus our efforts on the mission ahead—to become a great public university for all of Northeast Ohio and the world.”

Media contact: Wayne Hill, 330-972-2148 or whill@uakron.edu, or Dan Minnich, 330-972-6476 or dminnich@uakron.edu