Fellow Bears,
Over the past several weeks, we have taken important steps to address UNC’s financial
position as we outlined during the October budget town hall. These actions were important
to meet our immediate need to align our expenses with current revenue, and also to
put in place a long-term strategy that supports the continued financial stability
and prosperity of our institution. Addressing these challenges requires a comprehensive
and sustained approach.
In order to better align our staffing structure to the size of our university today,
we made the difficult decision to reduce the size of our workforce. In total, 50 filled
and 35 vacant staff positions were permanently eliminated. Of the occupied staff positions,
20 were classified and 30 were professional administrative employees. Planned eliminations
of vacant staff positions include seven classified and 28 professional administrative
personnel lines. While we did not lay off any tenured faculty, we are reducing faculty
by nine positions. Of these, four are tenure or tenure-track positions that will be
vacant by the end of the year and five are contract-renewable positions. Together
these personnel actions reduced our operating costs by approximately $8 million.
Additional non-personnel reductions were made by deans, AVPs, and vice presidents
based on their analysis of current and future spending needs. Some of this work remains
underway and will be implemented in the months ahead to ensure we meet our overall
budget reduction goal.
None of these choices were made lightly. Division leaders evaluated their team structures,
the work required to sustain operations critical to our mission, and the need to maintain
a manageable workload for those who continue supporting our students and each other.
Through what has been a challenging period, our community has demonstrated professionalism,
resilience, and care for one another throughout this process. I am confident that
UNC will continue to be an exceptional place to learn and work long into our future.
I have received several requests for a list of names of the employees who were impacted.
To protect their privacy, the university will not release their names unless we are
legally required to do so. Instead, campus leaders will continue communicating with
their teams as appropriate. If you have questions about what these changes mean in
your unit, I encourage you to speak with your supervisor or division or college leadership.
While these actions reflect hard choices, they also reflect our commitment to upholding
the values that guide our work. By aligning our budget now, we are better positioned
to preserve and strengthen the programs and services that directly support student
success — our highest priority — and to continue investing in the future of UNC.
I remain confident that the actions we’re taking will put us on a stronger, more sustainable
path forward, creating stability today while opening the door to future opportunities
for growth.
Thank you,
Andy Feinstein
President
