Utah State University will restructure its academic programs — including several large-scale mergers and a still unknown number of employee layoffs — in order to make up lost funds from the state’s budgets cuts for higher education.
The northern Utah land-grant school announced its initial plans for consolidating departments and colleges in a letter to faculty and staff Thursday. Fears and concerns swiftly followed.
Interim USU President Alan L. Smith said in the message, though, it is unclear at this point how many “associated personnel reductions” will be necessary.
“I know these personnel impacts are of particular concern to our community, and we will work to communicate as quickly and clearly as possible to those affected when decisions are made,” he added.
For now, the university is looking at “two global structural changes,” Smith said. The hope is those will help the school meet the Legislature’s imposed $12.6 million cut this year, and a $4.8 million cut from the prior year.
Overall, the combined cut for the eight public schools across the state is $60.5 million this year, and $20 million from 2024. Each institution has a portion of the total, calculated based on their size, student body and operations, such as research.
Lawmakers have directed schools to cut “inefficient” programs that don’t graduate a large number of students and lead to lower-paying jobs. Under newly passed HB265, colleges and universities can then earn their share back — as long as they show it will be reallocated to programs that result in high-demand jobs with high salaries.
The state’s schools have been pressed to quickly draft their plans after the measure received final approval just last month. The first version of their plans is due to the Utah Board of Higher Education next month, with a formal presentation to follow in June. Final approval from the Legislature will come in August and September.
At USU, the process began by asking for voluntary resignations and early retirements. The school has not revealed how many it has received or hopes to receive. The deadline to apply for that is May 2, with those starting on July 1.
Smith said in his letter that how many layoffs are needed will depend on those totals, as well as the “operational needs” for the newly merged programs.
What’s merging?
The bigger merger at the school will be combining the College of the Arts, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the College of Science into one super college. Many universities across the country, including the University of California, Berkeley, operate under this model, often placing it under the umbrella of “Letters and Science.”
Already, Smith said that he has chosen a leader to oversee the three merged colleges: Joe Ward, currently the humanities and social sciences dean.
The second merger is pooling together the College of Natural Resources with the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences. This will create one new college that aligns with similar efforts at other land-grant institutions.
There has not been a leader named for that yet.
By combining, though, each new larger program will require fewer administrators; it will be just one dean per college instead of the five previously. That will likely mean savings of hundreds of thousands in salaries, but it also is unclear what will happen to the prior deans.
The restructures, Smith said, also will include consolidating and moving departments and professors around. The specifics of those are also not yet determined.
And more effects, too, should be expected. “The changes will likely impact downstream programs, initiatives and centers or institutes,” he added. That includes discontinuing, as the Legislature has instructed, programs with lower enrollment.
The University of Utah, which faces a slightly larger $19.6 million budget cut, has been instructed by the Utah System of Higher Education to consider cutting any majors that graduate fewer than 40 students per year.
Prior to the cuts, the U. also made similar consolidation efforts — in a separate cost-saving measure — by combining or “sharing services” for the Colleges of Humanities, Science, Social and Behavioral Science and the School for Cultural and Social Transformation. That new combined program is now called the Schools of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Meanwhile, for its share of the budget cuts this year, Weber State University has so far looked at cutting administrative positions and a similar restructure of its College of Education to meet its obligation of $6.7 million.
But USU has been particularly affected by turmoil in the past few months — not limited to budget cuts. It also lost its president after Elizabeth “Betsy” Cantwell stepped down following a brief tenure. It was the focus of recent legislation about transgender students living in campus dorms. It has been under federal monitoring from the U.S. Department of Justice. And it’s been undergoing the accreditation renewal process during it all.
“You are heroically meeting the needs of our students and the communities we serve during a time of unusual disruption for higher education, as well as personal concerns about future changes at USU,” Smith said in his letter. “As always, I am grateful for all that you do.”
For his plan, he said, he has consulted with deans, sought faculty feedback, spoken with the president of USU’s Faculty Senate and asked for input from his executive cabinet. The proposal on merging colleges, which could include more before it’s finalized, will also be vetted by the Utah State Board of Trustees.
Smith has been providing updates to staff and faculty throughout the budget cut process, with letters and a recent town hall last month. At that, he said: “The goal is pure survival over the coming months.”
(Utah State University) Pictured is Alan L. Smith, who will serve as the interim president of Utah State University when Elizabeth "Betsy" Cantwell steps down in March 2025.
