TULSA – Due to state budget cuts, around 30 jobs are expected to be cut from a local community college.
Tulsa Community College plans to eliminate 15 full time and 15 part time positions to accommodate recent state budget losses, as per a statement sent by the college.
TCC went on to say that employees who are affected by the announcement will be offered tuition assistance for retraining, outplacement services, employee assistance program support and a severance project.
President Goodson sent a letter to all employees, it is listed below.
Dear Colleagues,
This week Tulsa Community College will take personnel actions that will be difficult for our college community. The College will reduce its workforce force by 15 full-time and 15 part-time employees.
The reductions were the result of very careful consideration of the current and future financial impact state appropriation cutbacks have had and will have on our budget in FY17. State budget failures this year and further reductions expected for next year will reduce TCC's state funding by a possible $7 million compared to the budget we started FY16 with in July. The financial implications are significant for TCC.
The voluntary separation program we offered earlier in the spring and our request that employees notify us as early as possible of their retirement made it possible to ensure we reduced our personnel through attrition before it was necessary to make targeted reductions. At the same time, we have identified operational savings with as little impact as possible on student facing services.
The individuals impacted by our reductions are our colleagues and we both respect their contributions to the College and wish them the best in this difficult transition. We have made every effort to assist them with outplacement services, extended compensation, TCC tuition benefits, and employee assistance program resources.
I'm sure each of you share my grave concern that continued budget failures and reductions for education will provide the state short-term savings but threaten the foundation of our future economy - workforce supply and development. In the meantime, we will do our part to address the financial constraints we face and deliver services and education that contribute to the success of our students.
Sincerely,
Leigh B. Goodson, Ph.D.
President and CEO
Tulsa Community College
