CLEVELAND — More than 50 employees have accepted voluntary buyouts from Cleveland State University as the school continues its efforts to close a projected $40 million budget shortfall, according to 3News media partners Cleveland.com and Signal Cleveland.
CSU approved the "voluntary separation incentive packages" back in April, allowing participants to leave the university with up to one year of their base salaries. According to both outlets, 27 faculty members and 27 staffers — all with at least 10 years of experience — chose to take the buyouts. This equates to just under 4% of Cleveland State's total workforce.
The buyouts are in addition to the 14 staff members whose jobs were eliminated last week. When those layoffs were announced, CSU said it was all part of its efforts "to align its budget more closely with operating expenses."
"While CSU does not currently plan any further employment reductions (besides the layoffs and buyouts), we will continue to manage our overall cost structure during the FY25 budget year and beyond to ensure CSU's long-term fiscal stability," the school continued.
In a spring interview with 3News' Danielle Wiggins, Cleveland State President Dr. Laura Bloomberg confirmed the university was facing a $40.1 million budget deficit by 2029, largely due to declining enrollment. Besides staffing, other areas that could potentially be hit by cuts include research, athletics, and academic offerings.
"On our current trajectory, we are on track to spend $153 million to cover our losses over the next five years, and if we are to do that people, we will deplete our $147 million in reserves," Bloomberg told representatives at an April meeting. "That is not a path that is sustainable; that is a path that leads to closure."
The original buyout plan set aside $9 million to pay departing employees. Per both Signal Cleveland and Cleveland.com, CSU's board of trustees last Thursday approved an additional $6 million to fund the separation packages.