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Ohio University Delays Personnel-Related Budget Cuts During Pandemic
By: Aaron Payne
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Ohio University has paused personnel-related budget reductions in response to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic.
According to a release, the university on Wednesday requested the action be taken for an undetermined amount of time.
“Our current focus must be on the safety and well-being of our campus communities as we continue to ensure the education of our students and service to our region,” the statement read.
The original request for cuts was announced on February 28 as part of a more than $30 million targeted reduction in the budget.
The OU chapter of the American Association of University Professors requested that the university not alter the makeup of the faculty after President Duane Nellis took action to slow the spread of coronavirus on campus.
The university said it would resume budget reduction talks once the coronavirus pandemic’s impact has lessened.
“We will re-evaluate our budget planning assumptions and our institutional priorities as we respond to these unprecedented and unpredictable times at OHIO and more broadly in higher education,” Wednesday’s release read. “Difficult decisions remain, and we will reassess once we have more clarity about our global and local contexts as they impact our situation this fiscal year and beyond.”
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