OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Administrators at UW-Oshkosh are continuing to navigate staff layoffs as part of the university’s plan to mitigate an $18 million budget deficit.
Recently, some students expressed concern over a lack of communication between officials and the student body.
“What’s done is done and there’s going to be a lot of restructuring going on with departments and everything, and we want to make sure students have a voice in that restructuring so we can be represented,” UW-Oshkosh Student President Ben Blaser said.
As the layoff and furlough period got underway, Blaser, Vice President Jacob Rucinski and Chief of Staff Frankie Kerkhof believed the student body hadn’t been included enough in the discussion.
“We voiced those concerns to the chancellor and as of recently, we’ve actually been now included in the shared governance meetings with faculty senate, academic staff senate and university staff senate,” Blaser said. “We were meeting separately, but now we’re meeting together, which is what we requested.”
UW-Oshkosh student leaders are hoping that’s the start of the road to rebuilding trust. They still feel, however, that the number of students on campus who fully understand the budget situation is too low.
“It’s not just a simple layoff situation with budget,” Rucinski said. “There’s a big background to this, obviously, on the state level and with enrollment going down. The ins and outs of details is what a lot of students lacked.”
The student government tells FOX 11 a survey sent out asked students to rate their understanding of the layoffs on a five point scale, with five meaning a full understanding.
“17% say one. 28.2% say two. 25.4% say three. 19.7% say four and then 9.2% say five,” Blaser said.
142 total students responded to the survey. To answer some of those students’ questions, the student government hosted a town hall event Wednesday night with a panel also including Chancellor Andrew Leavitt and Provost Ed Martini.
“They were talking about how they’re not even sure what’s going to be happening next and they can’t be transparent with that level of transparency with the students yet,” Kerkhof said.
The focus for student leaders now shifts away from what’s already happened.
“Building the ship as administration say,” Rucinski said. “We want to be part of the people who will build that ship and shape how this university will look in the coming year.”
Rucinski said he feels the issues surrounding the lack of transparency have been addressed to an extent that he’s comfortable with.
So far, the university has confirmed 140 layoffs and 76 voluntary staff retirements. The university says that will result in a total savings of $14.7 million.
