Correction appended
The College has laid off 38 Dartmouth employees over the past week as part of the recently-announced budget-reduction plan, although the exact distribution of layoffs among College departments remains unclear. Eight positions were eliminated from Facilities Operations and Management, but none of the layoffs affected library or Hopkins Center staff, according to officials in those departments.
Twenty-three of the 38 College-wide layoffs fall under the category of salaried managerial and professional staff members, The Dartmouth previously reported, while the other 15 eliminated positions belonged to "hourly workers."
The eight layoffs in FO&M were part of a total staff reduction of roughly 50 employees since the start of 2009, according to Director of Operations Frank Roberts. The other reductions in staff size were achieved through other means, including voluntary retirement and "voluntary separations," Chief Facilities Officer Linda Snyder said.
Dennis Brown, a recently laid-off member of the work control center division of FO&M, lost his position as a result of the budget cuts.
"It was quite a shock," Brown said. "Like I've told a lot of my friends, if we were in private business on the assembly line and the sales numbers dropped, then we'd be looking towards job reductions. It's tough to swallow here because business is good, we have the highest enrollment we've ever had."
Brown will try to apply for other positions within the College first and then search elsewhere if he cannot find another position, he said.
The College's recently-announced budget plan includes the goal of reducing the FO&M budget by $7.5 million. In addition to the staff reduction, the budget cuts will also be achieved by lowering the capital cost of projects, selling nonstrategic properties and increasing efficiency, Snyder said. An increase in parking fees may be part of these changes, she said.
Several other departments are also experiencing staff reductions. Administrators eliminated the position of director of the Office of Planning, Design and Construction, according to OPDC Director Steve Campbell.
Assistant Director of Outdoor Programs Don Cutter will retire from his position, he said in an e-mail obtained by The Dartmouth on Tuesday.
"The restructuring and a reduction of hours will not allow me to perform my job to a standard I can be proud of," he said in the message.
Some of the 38 announced layoffs were made in the administrative division of the athletic department, although more specific details have not been released.
Several other departments contacted by The Dartmouth said that the current round of layoffs have not yet affected their departments.
Earl Sweet, president of the Service Employees International Union Local 560, said he had only heard of layoffs occurring among non-union staff.
No layoffs occurred among College library staff, according to Dean of Libraries and Librarian of the College Jeffrey Horrell. Seven library staff members will be leaving the College six through the voluntary retirement program offered in the past year and one through a "voluntary separation," Horrell said. The employees will leave the College by the end of this fiscal year.
Further reductions to library staff may take place after the next set of budget initiatives are announced in April, Horrell said. It is not yet clear whether the seven vacated positions will be filled, he said.
Horrell added that he does not anticipate any reduction in library hours or change to student-library interaction because staff changes will only impact internal procedures and practices, he said.
"They should not affect students at all," he said.
No staff positions were eliminated at the Hopkins Center, according to Rebecca Bailey, media relations coordinator for the Hopkins Center.
No layoffs took place at the College power plant, power plant chief engineer Bill Riehl said.
Roland Adams, College director of media relations, said that he had no further information about the distribution of layoffs to release by press time.
