Who loses first when UC budets are cut by Arnold?

January 31, 2008 10:01 AM

How are the proposed UC budget cuts here(Article) and here(PDF) likely to affect campus employees and administrative staff (non academics, non students)?

Somewhere between 32 and 60 million dollars will be cut from campus budgets. What excess fat is trimmed first? Historically, what kinds of employees are first to lose their jobs? How does this budget cut compare to past UC funding cuts and is there any historical data to show where the money will be trimmed?

How much of this budget cut will be absorbed easily without cutting personnel? Is there enough cushion? How does IT fare in these kinds of situations?

posted by |n$eCur3 to Work & Money (6 answers total)

In the past, the unions at UC have been quite protective of their workers. Of course, these cuts are far bigger than most, so I'm not sure if one can accurately speculate.

As a side note, this post MAY be eponysterical.
posted by JMOZ at 10:10 AM on January 31, 2008

Often university budget cuts result in open positions going unfilled. They are also often accompanied by tuition increases and reduced service. It's really hard to fire most state university employees, so I wouldn't worry too much unless you have some sort of limited term or contract-based employment. You may find, if that's the case, that contracts might not be allowed to be renewed.

I think it is unlikely that there will be corporate buzzsaw-style layoffs.
posted by rachelpapers at 10:25 AM on January 31, 2008

In my opinion as a UC employee that just "celebrated" his 10-year anniversary, it is unlikely that the budget cuts will result in mass layoffs. As rachelpapers says, staff reductions are more likely to be through attrition, helped along by the fact that wages will no doubt continue to stagnate for all except UC's upper management. However, UC will become a less pleasant place to work, since workplace services will also continue to decline and their cost will go up as financial units will continue to be pressed to become self-funding.

If you work in IT for UC, you may or may not be in a position represented by a union. If you ARE in a represented position, this is a great time to become active in that union. (If you're not sure, MeMail me with your job title and I'll let you know.) Every voice counts when the Regents decide who is going to bear the brunt of the cuts!
posted by harkin banks at 10:46 AM on January 31, 2008

Yeah, generally speaking, mass layoffs don't happen at UC. You will, however, not get a raise again for years, and there will be a lot more empty cubes if anyone leaves their position for any reason.

I don't remember any IT guys getting canned during the last one, if that's any comfort to you. IT is always needed.
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:12 PM on January 31, 2008

CSU person here - lower down the academic pole than CU but will feel similar effects.

Yeah, at our campus EVERY VP-and-down position - staff or faculty - even ones that have been previously approved is up for review. This includes replacements for people that leave/retire. In other words, if our safety officer leaves, we can't assume we an hire a new one: safety? Who needs it?

I'm hopping mad about this because it sets up a vicious cycle: people leave: not replaced: lowers morale + more work for people : people leave.

So yeah, that's one of the worst things about this BS. Fuck aaaaahnold!
posted by lalochezia at 2:43 PM on January 31, 2008

In addition to the union, or if you are not part of a union, you can also contact the Staff Advisors to the Regents and express your concerns.
posted by mogget at 5:00 PM on January 31, 2008