3 Ways to Close a Gap

Here’s how some colleges are dealing with their budget deficits:

Brandeis University’s governing board has voted to suspend faculty and staff retirement contributions for the next fiscal year, beginning July 1, 2009, in an effort to offset a projected $8.9-million deficit, the The Justice reports. In an e-mail message to the student newspaper, Peter B. French, executive vice president and chief operating officer, wrote that “all faculty and staff will still be eligible to make individual pre-tax contributions to their own retirement accounts.”
Wright State University plans to offer buyouts to 700 faculty and staff members in an effort to cope with cuts in state higher-education spending without resorting to layoffs, the Dayton Daily News reports:
Wright State employees who are eligible to retire must have at least five years of service to participate in the program. Employees not eligible to retire need at least 15 years of service to participate.

Under the current draft of the plan, employees will receive an amount equal to one year of their base pay up to $65,000 for faculty, $55,000 for unclassified staff and $25,000 for classified staff, according to university officials. Unclassified staff includes salaried and hourly employees, while classified employees are paid hourly.

The plan is to go before the Board of Trustees on May 28 and will be up for final approval on June 12.

Meanwhile, there’s good news for University of Iowa employees. President Sally Mason told them this week that, thanks to federal stimulus money, there won’t be a need for furloughs or pay cuts in the 2010 fiscal year, the Associated Press reports.