CLEVELAND — Cleveland State University's Board of Trustees has approved a plan to offer "voluntary separation incentive packages" to eligible faculty and staff to help reverse the university's financial problems.
Specifically, the board approved a one-time expense of no more than $9 million to fund the plan at a special meeting on Tuesday morning. The voluntary separation package will be offered to faculty and staff with 10 years or more of service at Cleveland State. In a release, CSU says it hopes to have an application process for the incentive plan ready by early next month.
"With the changing landscape of higher education around Ohio and across the United States, Cleveland State University is taking action to establish a strong foundation for its future as Cleveland’s only public, research-focused institution that creates excellent learning opportunities for all students," the university wrote in its release.
In a story first reported by Amy Morona of Signal Cleveland last week, the move by Cleveland State to offer faculty and staff voluntary buyout packages comes as university leaders seek to close a projected $40 million budget gap.
Using data shared with 3News, Cleveland State University officials say 332 faculty members would be eligible for buyouts. That number is roughly 63% of the 527 full-time educators at CSU. Also, 391 full-time staffers would be eligible for the "separation incentive package," which is 44% of the 891 total members.
CSU senior Michael Eadie, who is the managing editor of the school’s Vindicator Magazine, believes the plan will continue to generate loss.
“Losing the chance to have more professors on campus who have more knowledge, losing the chance to have new professors learn from the older ones who know so much about the city and about the university and about the subject that they're teaching,” Eadie says. “It hurts.”
Amid the reality of its cost-saving measure, Cleveland State officials are optimistic about the future.
"CSU is confident that it will emerge from this period of rightsizing with a new strategic vision as Cleveland’s regional, public, urban, research institution centered on the student experience. CSU also intends to leverage technology and recognized industry tools to strengthen its reputation and focus on the future economic, cultural and workforce needs of the region," the university added in its release.
Justin Samsa, a second-year CSU student, who says he will serve as CSU Student Government Association President next school year, wants to see where the university’s values lie.
“Do they lie in providing for a value of education that is actually substantial or do they lie more in balancing our checkbook,” Samsa says.