MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – About 875 WVU employees have been furloughed saving the university around $4 million, according to Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Rob Alsop.
“We are going to come out of this, we are going to be a strong institution going forward,” Alsop said,”It was necessary at this point in time to take this step, and others to make sure we are really strong going into the future.”
Alsop says furlough decisions were made based on what functions are required to keep university functioning at this time of year.
“We did an analysis of over the next 45 to 60 days, given that our campus is closed and some of our revenue streams have dried up,” Alsop said,”What employees do we have that have been on home work assignments that are not critical over that time period.”
Additionally, President Gordon Gee and members of the senior staff have taken a 10 percent pay cut and limits on travel and supplies have been enacted.
Additionally, Athletic Director Shane Lyons said that coaches and athletic staff making more than $100,000 will receive a 5% reduction, while a 2.5% reduction will be implemented to staff salaries less than $100,000. A total of 65 athletic-oriented employees were furloughed, some of those workers will not return and open positions will not be filled.
Alsop says the call back of furloughed workers will depend on the ramp up for the fall semester.
“As we ramp back up toward bringing our students back on campus this fall, based on the need for employee operational needs we’ll have them return to campus,” Alsop said,”It will primarily be that June 28 or July 26 date.”
Enrollment numbers were slightly behind 2019 numbers during the last Board of Governor’s meeting, but Alsop says they appear to be in a relatively strong position.
“We are planning for a number of scenarios,”Alsop said,”But the good news is, we continue to be trending above what some of the fearful estimates we’re hearing across the country.”
Alsop says every aspect of university operations is being reviewed.
“What we will do with everything right now, is we’re going to look at what is the core strategic priority of the university,” Alsop said,”If there’s something that we’re doing that we can’t afford in the future, we’ll look at it and determine wether we should continue on that path.”