Youngstown State plans layoffs, job cuts to address deficit; cites enrollment, state funding

6/7/2014

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University in northeast Ohio says it will lay off 15 staff members and eliminate 43 vacant positions in a $3.8 million budget cut.

The school’s interim president says it had to take steps toward balancing its budget because lower enrollment and losses of state funding led to a deficit.

A statement from the university says its tuition revenue and state allocations have dropped by a combined $19.5 million in three years. It says the proposed staff cuts were part of a budget approved by a panel of trustees this week.

A statement from the head of the YSU Association of Classified Employees says employees aren’t making the spending decisions and shouldn’t be targeted to ease the financial challenges the university is facing.