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Posted 10/24/02
I am writing to provide you with additional information regarding the current budget situation. As you know, Dartmouth is facing a revenue shortfall, and senior officers are working to identify possible reductions in expenditures. While we have a sense of the overall magnitude of the savings we need to achieve, the Budget Committee is still in the midst of reviewing the proposals submitted by each area. Some departments and areas are further along in the process than others, but the senior officers have not yet made decisions regarding the final cuts. We expect to have a clearer sense of the specific actions we will need to take to balance the budget by the end of the fall term and will share this information with the Dartmouth community at that time.
In the meantime, I know that many of you are concerned about layoffs. As much as we had hoped to reach our budget reductions through attrition alone, it is now clear that at least some departments will need to terminate positions that are currently filled. While the figures are not yet final because of the reasons outlined above, we currently project that approximately 30 employees, or 1% of the total workforce, will lose their positions. In addition, we anticipate that an additional 40 to 50 currently open positions will not be filled.
Let me emphasize that the restructuring of areas is for the purpose of achieving budget reductions. This restructuring focuses on the position being eliminated, not on the individual filling the position, and it will not be used by managers as a vehicle to deal with performance issues. The statements in this memo refer only to those employees whose positions are being eliminated as a result of the current budget situation.
The goal of the restructuring of an area should be to preserve its core services and programs, and the elimination of positions should be tied to the restructuring of the area. Dartmouth will offer a severance package, described below, to all employees whose positions are eliminated because of the current cuts. When deans and directors consider eliminating a position, they will also consider restructuring or eliminating the work associated with that position.
Severance Package for Laid-off Employees:
- While Dartmouth currently has a policy for employees who face a layoff, the employees displaced as a result of the current budget cuts will receive the severance package outlined below. This package will apply to layoffs commencing between December 1, 2002 and June 30, 2003.
- All laid-off employees will receive severance compensation equivalent to two weeks of pay for each full year of continuous service, up to a maximum of 52 weeks. All benefits will be in effect during the period of severance pay with the exception of short- and long-term disability policies.
- All laid-off employees will receive at least one month of severance pay.
- All laid-off employees will receive pay for any unused vacation and the earned vacation credit toward the next fiscal year.
- The effective date of the layoff for each position will be set by the dean or director, in consultation with the vice president.
- Dartmouth will provide job search support and counseling to laid-off employees.
Additional details are forthcoming.
During this period of layoffs, Dartmouth will continue to hire people for vacant positions, based on the position review guidelines described in the President's August 14 letter. Laid-off employees are encouraged to apply for these positions, and if they are rehired within one year to any regular job at Dartmouth, the previous continuous service date will be reinstated. Deans and directors with open positions in their areas are encouraged to speak with the Institutional Diversity and Equity office if they wish to seek a waiver from the traditional search process.
We recognize that layoffs are stressful for laid-off employees, continuing employees, and supervisors. In the next few weeks as the Budget Committee and senior officers review the plans for each division on campus, we will have a clearer picture of the impact on programs and employees. As more information becomes available over the next several weeks, I will be in touch with members of the Dartmouth community to provide additional information. If in the meantime you have specific questions, please be in touch with your supervisor or with the professionals in the Human Resources Office.
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