UW-Platteville is facing a fiscal shortfall and officials have announced that they are considering employee furloughs and budget “retractions” to address the fiscal shortfall, as well as steps such as reducing staff. A letter from UW-P Chancellor Tammy Evetovich sent to university staff Monday states that the school faces a $9.7 million “structural deficit” in the budget for the current year, despite efforts over the past year to reduce spending. Evetovich said university leaders are considering the following strategies:
- Instituting one-time budget retractions
- Implementing employee furloughs as a short-term strategy
- Reducing staff through a voluntary retirement program, normal attrition and layoffs
- Assessing organizational structure
University of Wisconsin System President Jay Rothman said Monday that a pair of similar announcements made by UW-Platteville and UW-Parkside were “disappointing and unfortunate — yet not unexpected.” In her letter, Evetovich attributed the university’s financial problems to declining enrollment and rising inflation, coupled with reduced state aid and a previous tuition freeze from the Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers called for the Legislature to convene a special session next month, in part to increase funding for the UW System after UW-Oshkosh announced it would be laying off workers and issuing furloughs.
