Budget Update 12-8-23

Dear Faculty, Staff & Administrators,

The end of the Fall semester is fast approaching, and I want to thank you for your dedication to delivering a high-quality education for our students and your unwavering support of our institution's values.

UW-Parkside is committed to providing great opportunities for our students, and we see a bright future with increased enrollments this year. Our commitment to providing a comprehensive education that includes the liberal arts remains steadfast, and our planning efforts will maintain Parkside’s role as an educational pillar in the community well into the future.

Following my office's communications on October 11 and November 8, I wanted to provide a further update on our efforts to improve the UW-Parkside’s financial stability and help balance the budget for the next fiscal year.

On November 15, 2023, the Huron Consulting Group was on campus to facilitate a budget planning workshop and identified immediate and longer-term opportunities for the University to mitigate the budget deficit. The leadership team will work to prioritize these opportunities and make decisions about next steps.

We are moving forward with the workforce reduction process and are working to gather input from university leaders and shared governance. We will be reducing staff by approximately 50 full-time equivalent positions, including voluntary separations, layoffs and attrition over the coming months. You can reference the VSIP and Layoff Timeline.

We are also working with the UW System to evaluate our longer-term financial health and opportunities to improve our performance. Continued focus will be given to evaluating and streamlining academic programs.

We are committed to transparency throughout this process and will continue to communicate as we move forward, including regular, direct updates with faculty, staff and students. You can visit the Strategic Budget Planning website and FAQs for more specific details.

Our new chancellor, Dr. Lynn D. Akey will be on campus starting January 2, 2024 and will be working closely with the leadership team to address UW-Parkside’s current financial challenges. Dr. Akey has a deep understanding of how strategic planning, enrollment management and the student experience work together, and will help us support our students’ success as we look to the future.

I know these are stressful times for our campus community. As a reminder, the Employee Assistance Program, Kepro, is available to support employees, including those who may need financial advice. They can be reached at 833-539-7285 or via their website: Kepro (passcode: SOWI).

Thank you for your commitment to the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, especially during this challenging time. I believe these steps need to be taken to help support staff and create a better financial outlook, as well as ensure we preserve our mission of academic excellence and student success for the future.

Sincerely,

Scott Menke

Interim Chancellor