Updated, 4:40 p.m. Tuesday 鈥� The economic fallout from COVID-19 could cost the University of Missouri System $180 million, triggering layoffs, furloughs and other cost-cutting measures.
鈥淭he problems that we see based on the reductions in state support, also the softness in enrollment in the fall, and how the market is doing in terms of our investment outcomes, we expect a significant downtown for the university,鈥� President Mun Choi said Tuesday during a virtual town hall for University of Missouri faculty and staff, 鈥渁nd that does require structural changes.鈥�
Choi said financial decisions made in the coming weeks and months will be reevaluated when the four-campus System knows what enrollment for the fall looks like.
鈥淲e must plan for severe financial challenges for the next 60-90 days, with forward-looking realism about potential longer term impacts,鈥� Choi wrote in an email to faculty and staff at all four UM campuses.
Along with Choi, the chancellors of the other three state universities 鈥� UMKC, UMSL and Missouri S&T in Rolla 鈥� all signed the letter.
Choi added that 鈥渃ontingency plans鈥� would be made for cuts of up to 15%, which could look like 鈥渓ayoffs, unpaid leaves, restructuring and strict cost containment measures.鈥�
UMKC leaders are working closely with Choi to determine how to best meet that target, spokesman John Martellaro wrote in an email.
鈥淥ur overriding priority in making these decisions is to preserve the quality of teaching and vital research at UMKC so we can continue to make valuable contributions to fighting the pandemic and rebuilding our economy in its wake,鈥� Martellaro said.
MU Chief Financial Officer Rhonda Gibler said COVID-19 is unlike anything the university has dealt with before.
鈥淭here are likely to be impacts that change our ability to fund every position we鈥檝e had over the last number of years,鈥� she said at the town hall. 鈥淭here are likely to be layoffs.鈥�
Buyouts are less likely, said Vice Chancellor for Human Resources Patty Haberberger, because they could strain the UM System pension.
As of Sunday, some university employees who cannot work from home were already taking unpaid leave. After campuses closed in March, the UM System started refunding students for room and board, at a total cost of $25 million.
Christian Basi, spokesman for the University of Missouri, said students who applied for those refunds have received them. Students were eligible for a 45% refund of spring semester housing fees if they moved out of their residence hall. About 300 students, most of them international, are still living on campus because they don鈥檛 have anywhere else to go.
Basi said MU has tried to consolidate those students into as few buildings as possible 鈥� while still adhering to social distancing guidelines 鈥� to save on utility costs. He also said it is 鈥渢oo early鈥� to know where the 15% of cuts Choi has proposed will come from.
For now, though, MU is not scaling back plans to build the NextGen Precision Health Institute, which Choi said will allow researchers to compete with their peers across the country. MU has $120 million allocated for the project.
Choi has said he himself would take a 10% pay cut, as will chancellors, cabinet members and many other senior administrators.
Jacob Marszalek, who teaches at UMKC and is the chairman of the Intercampus Faculty Cabinet, said it鈥檚 important for Choi and other leaders to show solidarity right now.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 probably going to help save some people鈥檚 jobs,鈥� he said.
Marszalek said that the figures Choi presented on Tuesday represent the 鈥渨orst case鈥� scenario for the UM System and the fallout from COVID-19 might not be that bad.
But if cuts are inevitable, he said it鈥檚 important to look out for vulnerable employees.
鈥淲e have contingent faculty, or adjunct faculty who don鈥檛 have any job security,鈥� Marszalek said. 鈥淭here are also non-tenure track faculty ... and then of course there鈥檚 the whole issue of our staff who support us who we really can鈥檛 do our jobs without. They鈥檙e vulnerable to furloughs and layoffs as well.鈥�
KCUR is licensed to the University of Missouri Board of Curators and is an editorially independent community service of the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Copyright 2020 KCUR 89.3. To see more, visit . 9(MDA1MjI2NzUxMDEyNzQyMTY5MjQ2YzkwNA004))
