Wilkes U. implements layoffs, salary cuts, other fiscal tightening

WILKES-BARRE — Facing a tough economic situation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Wilkes University has notified some non-tenured faculty that 2020-21 will be their last year with the school, salary reductions are being put in place, and capital projects are on hold, spokeswoman Gabrielle D’Amico confirmed Wednesday.

D’Amico was responding to a query following a Facebook posting by 2018 graduate Rebecca Voorhees criticizing the school’s decision to drop the band curriculum.

Asked about the band’s future, D’Amico said via email that “At this point, no decisions have been made about the future of the Marching Colonels after the 2020-21 academic year.”

But she also noted staff and salary reductions are being implemented.

“Notifications began this week as some nontenured faculty members received information that the upcoming academic year at Wilkes will be their last. This was done in compliance with the University’s faculty handbook and in hopes that this notification allows them to pursue other opportunities.

“In addition, discretionary expenditures and capital projects are on hold, and we will implement a progressive salary reduction that will most adversely impact those at the highest salary range,” she added.

Private colleges and universities have been grappling with demographic shifts in recent years, some warning of declining enrollment sure to lead to shrinking income. D’Amico said Wilkes has been working to address that problem, but “we could not predict the unprecedented challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our transition to remote operations represents an incredible shift in how we learn, work and teach, and we’re facing the unanticipated expenses and losses that arise from serving our students safely. In many ways, we have yet to fully realize the financial impact of the pandemic,” she added.

D’Amico shared a campus update sent out by Interim President Paul Adams last week. Adams opened with “appreciation and admiration for how well you have adjusted to the demands we face at Wilkes since moving to a new learning and working paradigm in March,” when Wilkes and other schools switched to remote-only learning in response to shutdowns prompted by the pandemic.

Adams also said “as a result of closing the campus, we are refunding roughly 50 percent of the housing, meal and parking costs that our students paid to the University for the 2020 spring semester.”

The university is getting $2.4 million from the federal pandemic relief law known as the CARES Act, half of which must, by the law, go to students to help their financial burdens from the outbreak. The remaining $1.2 million, though welcome, “will only cover a portion of the expense we will face as a result of the pandemic,” he wrote.

All that, coupled with the uncertainty of when and how the campus will re-open to students, prompted multiple fiscal steps, Adams wrote:

• Discretionary expenditures, including conferences, consultants and travel, will be carefully considered and only approved in the most necessary of circumstances.

• Capital projects will be suspended until further notice.

• There will be a freeze on filling open academic and nonacademic positions.

• Salary increases are paused for Fiscal Year 2021. “This was an especially painful decision given how quickly you adjusted for remote teaching and work and the way you supported our students through this change.”

• A progressive salary reduction will be made “that will most adversely impact those at the highest salary range, including cabinet members and senior leadership,” while a others face a flat one percent salary reduction.

• The university’s contribution will be suspended for one year effective Aug. 1. “Our goal, if circumstances improve, is to restore some level of contribution in FY22.”

• Adams also warned of possible furloughs and possible permanent reductions to the workforce, though offered no specifics.