Contracts for three UW-Whitewater faculty members will not be renewed in July, the beginning of the fiscal year, due to the state budget cuts.
Two fundraising positions and one alumni relations position in the university advancement division have been cut from university staffing for next school year, said John Enslin, assistant chancellor of University Advancement. "I spoke with a number of people from our division and with Chancellor [Richard Telfer] about the best steps to take and we just decided, given the cuts that will be needed to make, those were the positions that were appropriate considering all we have to do," he said.
They are currently employed under a one-year contract and were informed during March of the decision.
It has not been confirmed whether positions in other departments have been cut.
Enslin said the work will have to be redistributed among employees once the contracts are up.
"Right now, we have seven employees that do fundraising, and now we'll be down to five but I do still anticipate we'll be successful in our fundraising," Enslin said. "Outside of the fact that some people will be doing extra work, and some work might not get done, I don't know what other effects there will be. "
Randall Upton, director of advancement for the College of Education, is one of the faculty members who has lost his position.
"I am disappointed that I will no longer be able to work for an excellent College of Education nor work with some wonderful educators within the College," Upton said in an e-mail Thursday. "I accept what has occurred as a fact of life in these harsh economic times. It matters not whether I agree or disagree with the underlying philosophy behind the personnel shift … since being advised of the decision affecting my position I have continued to work to ensure that no programs of the college are compromised."
Megan Matthews, director of advancement for the College of Arts and Communications position will also be discontinued, but she will still lecture arts management classes. She held the advancement position for nearly four years, and has been lecturing since 2000.
"I'm not bitter, I'm not angry, I don't think things are unfair," Matthews said. "I'm disappointed they had to make the decision but everyone is having to make hard decisions right now, and I'm just choosing to look forward and seeing what other opportunities are out there both on and off campus."
Director of Alumni Relations Tommie Jones also did not receive a contract renewal. He was not available for immediate comment.
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