Editors' Note: A previous version of this story contained material similar to text that appeared in other written sources. An Editors' Note was published in the Oct. 31, 2011, Herald. That Editors' Note can be found here.
Last year's 66 layoffs and 139 staff who opted for early retirement have left administrators looking closely at which positions to refill and what new positions to create as part of the organizational review process.
The outcome of these measures represents an 8 percent reduction in Brown's non-faculty workforce, according to a message on the University's Brown and the Economy website.
The Herald previously reported that 60 filled staff positions were eliminated at the end of last year stemming from the Organizational Review Committee's February report, but this figure was "never set in stone," according to Vice President for Human Resources Karen Davis.
Though the ORC focused on 12 areas deemed most critical by officials, the areas "didn't literally touch every part of the University," Davis said. "There were some position eliminations that did not come directly from the University-wide organizational review, but emerged in that same period for the same reasons from units that were sort of left to do their own thing."
Davis said she was not sure which departments the additional layoffs were in, but gave the Admission and Financial Aid offices as examples of areas that might not have fallen under any of the 12 specific categories looked at in the ORC's report and so would have been left to do their own internal reviews.
Of the 66 staff who lost their jobs last year, Davis said at least 10 had applied for and found another job at Brown.
Julie Haworth, who used to manage events for the Office of Continuing Education, lost her job but was able to secure a position heading the University's new Events and Conference Service Center.
"We strongly encouraged her to apply for this new position," Davis said. "She was absolutely the best person for the job."
Other positions could not be filled in-house.
After Deborah Berlo left her post as director of Graphics Services to lead Princeton's printing and mailing operations this winter, no lower-level employees were ready to step up to the position, Davis said. Leslie Rutledge came this summer from San Diego State University's graphics department to head the office.
According to messages on the Brown and the Economy website, all of the laid-off employees received "severance packages effective July 1," which would "provide four weeks of compensation," including health benefits, for each year the employees worked at the University, for up to 40 weeks. The package included "additional compensation" for staff who had worked at the University for more than 10 years, according to the website.
The University also agreed to provide workshops and training programs regarding job seeking and transitioning as part of its outplacement support services.
"We've had some real success stories over the summer of people finding jobs elsewhere," Davis said.
Of the 139 positions vacated by those who took advantage of the voluntary staff retirement incentive offered last year, Davis said about 40 have been approved to be refilled.
"The whole point (of the early retirement incentive) was to free up positions that could be used for different things, but some of those positions needed to be filled anyway," Davis said, noting that there was no way to control who participated in the program.
The University created a Vacancy Review Committee in the fall of 2008 when President Ruth Simmons announced a hiring freeze on all vacant staff and administrative positions.
Davis said the committee, which carefully reviewed which vacancies had to be refilled during the tough economic times, has been eliminated. Because the freeze is currently still in effect, Davis said the Human Resources Department will take over the committee's function, but in a "less bureaucratic way," without asking for all the forms and documentation the committee had required.
As the University undergoes a process of reorganization and consolidation to adapt to a weakened economy, Davis said there is also talk about restructuring to mitigate the effects of future economic downturns.
"The other thing the Organizational Review Committee said to us is just to make sure our normal processes — filling vacancies, recruitment or whatever — allow us to change over time," Davis said. "The committee said, ‘Don't make us go through this painful process again. Figure out how, in the normal course of business, to design processes, discussions and vehicles for reorganizing to keep up with the times in a way that doesn't get everybody in a tizzy.' "
