ITS layoffs total climbs to 11

The total number of layoffs at the Information Technology Services was brought to 11 last Monday.

“I can confirm that on Monday we informed three more ITS employees that their positions were being eliminated as part of the restructuring plan,” said William Weber, vice president for business affairs. “I also can confirm that all ITS employees whose positions are being eliminated under the restructuring have been notified of the decision.”

Eight of the employees were notified that they were to be laid off at a meeting Oct. 16; the final three were informed on Oct. 19.

Those employees who have been laid off will be on administrative leave until Dec. 20, when the layoff goes into effect. They will continue to receive pay and benefits through the leave period, but they are not to return to work at the ITS.

“In addition to the staffed positions that have been eliminated, we will be eliminating some vacant and soon-to-be vacant positions, and we will not be renewing any existing temporary contracts as we continue to restructure the unit,” Weber said.

Among those eliminated positions are the recent and upcoming retirements, said Weber at the Oct. 20 Faculty Senate meeting.

“We have some recent and upcoming retirements, so we will be eliminating and restructuring those positions as well, but it wasn’t enough to do what we needed to do,” Weber said during the meeting.

The restructuring will also include the creation of five new jobs, to be filled in the spring semester.

“We plan to create one new position in database administration and four new positions in web development, although the latter positions may be housed in some other unit than ITS,” Weber said.

“The ITS restructuring is a necessary step to address several changes in our IT environment, such as the retirement of our mainframe computer and the move from in-house applications to commercial software packages.”

Weber announced July 6 that the ITS would be restructured.

Sarah Ruholl can be reached at 581-7942 or at [email protected].