From New Orleans: Tulane Announces Layoffs

From New Orleans: Tulane Announces Layoffs

Today, Tulane University publicly announced the "pay status" for its employees.

243 full-time employees will be laid off. As well, most of the part-time workforce will be laid off, or has already been terminated. Tulane lists the following groups of part-timers laid off, but does not indicate total numbers of people affected:

"Those who were terminated effective September 30, 2005 and August 29, 2005:

* All part-time faculty;
* Part-time staff who are not benefits-eligible;
* Part-time staff who are benefits eligible and were hired after May 1, 2005.
* Adjunct faculty who are not benefits-eligible;
* All-but-dissertation (ABD) graduate students who teach courses on an adjunct basis;
* Temporary employees (will be paid for services performed prior to August 29, 2005);
* Student employees (will be paid for services performed prior to August 29, 2005);
* All special pays."

Effective October 31, 2005, most "Part-time staff who are benefits-eligible and were hired before May 1, 2005" will be laid off.

According to the announcement, "Katrina has created challenges that are unmatched in the history of Tulane University and many difficult strategic decisions must be made to secure the university's future operations. As a result, Tulane University will be a smaller institution in terms of number of employees."

Full-time staff members being laid off will receive final paychecks on Nov. 15.

Even those who aren't laid off may not have that much job security, though.

"The following employees will continue to receive pay checks from Tulane University:

* Full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty at their base salary;
* Graduate students and post-doctoral fellows who are on stipends;
* Full-time staff not affected by the Nov. 15 separation.

"Those who will be paid for November and whose future pay status will be continually evaluated:

* Clinical full-time faculty in the School of Medicine and the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine; School of Medicine clinical full-time faculty will receive their base pay and incentive pay with the understanding that individuals must accept clinical duties as assigned, that the obligation to turn over all clinical revenues to the university remains in effect, and that if the clinical faculty member leaves the university, the institution will seek repayment for any money paid to the faculty member above and beyond base pay.
* VA professors who are on 3/8 time at Tulane University but without benefits;
* Medical residents;
* Research faculty;
* Visiting faculty."

Further, Tulane reminds its employees that things are certainly not back to normal yet:

"All faculty, staff and graduate students who remain on the university payroll may be called upon by the university to perform regular or special duties as needed. Refusal to perform these duties will result in termination of pay or recoupment of payments actually made. The university assumes that all faculty, staff and graduate students will be resuming work as soon as possible. Therefore, all conflict of interest and commitment policies remain in effect."

I can imagine a cadre of Tulane grad students being called into service by the university for cleaning duties. (But probably not tenured faculty) A company called Belfor has been hired by the university to rebuild the campus facilities in time for the planned reopening in January 2006.

While most displaced university employees probably had some idea these layoffs was coming, it nevertheless is a stark reminder of the costs of the hurricane recovery.