EAST LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – Michigan State University is beginning to feel the effects of its recently announced budget cuts, with layoffs already underway in several departments and more expected in the coming weeks.
Among the first to be impacted is WKAR Public Media, which had to eliminate staff positions due to a combination of university-wide cuts and delays in expected federal funding.
“We had great professionals who worked in fundraising, in communication, and all of those are extremely important positions for the work that we do here,” said Shawn Turner, general manager at WKAR. “Not a single one of our colleagues who was laid off deserved to lose their job. But we’re dealing with circumstances outside of our control.”
MSU leadership says departments have been instructed to prioritize non-personnel spending cuts first. But in some cases, staff reductions have been unavoidable. According to President Kevin Guskiewicz, the university is reducing general fund spending by 9% over the next two years in response to inflation, rising healthcare costs, and an expected decrease in federal research dollars.
In a statement, MSU said: “We will continue to invest in students, ensuring a high-quality, high-value education. We will maintain vital services such as police, food service, and payroll at necessary levels to serve such a large, sophisticated organization.”
Still, some students worry the cuts could affect class offerings and the overall campus experience.
“You’re already paying so much to go to a university,” said MSU student Adelia Carr. “But then you’re told you’re taking over half your classes online because the professors, there’s not enough of them, and they can’t be available. I kind of think that’s unfair because I could go to an online school. I didn’t need to come here.”
Faculty advocates are also questioning how spending priorities are being set.
“No one is talking about other areas of the budget we could cut,” said Victor Rodriguez-Pereira, with the Union of Non-Tenure Track Faculty. “Yet we have money to approve apartment complexes, a new gym, things that don’t directly support the educational mission of the university.”
The next phase of cuts is expected to begin in July as more colleges and administrative units finalize their plans. MSU says it will continue working with unions and is offering resources and voluntary retirement options for some employees.
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