June 16, 2021
Dear William Paterson Faculty and Staff,
Following up on my Monday email, I write to inform you that, this week, we notified 15 AFT professional staff and 4 higher ed managers that their positions are, unfortunately, being eliminated as part of our restructuring plan to align costs with revenues and set the University on a more sustainable path. We also notified 15 faculty members that their positions are being eliminated. However, as we continue to negotiate with the AFT, we expect the number of laid-off faculty to decrease.
The affected AFT faculty and professional staff will be leaving the University early in 2022. Most higher ed managers will depart by July 1, 2021. In addition to these layoffs, a combination of retirements, transitions to retirement, attrition, and voluntary separation agreements will lead to the elimination of a total of 24 AFT professional staff and librarian positions, 10 higher ed manager positions, and 49 faculty positions by July 2023 – an overall reduction of 83 positions across the University. Through our University-wide efforts over the past 18 months, we have reduced these numbers as much as possible. Still, it is difficult saying goodbye to the colleagues and friends who will be leaving us soon. They have contributed so much to William Paterson. We thank them for their service and wish them all the best.
Out of respect for their privacy, I will not share any additional information on the people or positions affected, and I ask that you please use your discretion in discussing any of the affected people or positions, so that we don’t unintentionally compound the difficulty of their situation. Please allow those personally impacted to decide whether and how to share their news with the community. Of course, their colleagues will need to know about the elimination of positions as it impacts their own work moving forward, and related communications concerning structural changes will take place at the department level.
I am sorry to be losing good people. Whether our colleagues are leaving the University sooner or later, as a result of retirement, resignation, or layoff, we wish them well.
