Faculty departments and divisions at Winthrop University continue to deal with the effects of the hiring freeze enacted last year due to COVID-19.
The hiring freeze was introduced and approved by the Board of Trustees in April 2020 to cushion the financial blow caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision saved Winthrop University approximately $1.5 million through restricting expenditures, travel and hiring, according to Director of Communications, Monica Bennet.
“Requests to hire new Winthrop employees and requests to establish new state-funded positions will not be considered for approval unless specifically identified as an exception by the CPA/president,” said Vice President for Finance and Business Affairs, Justin Oates, in an email addressed to faculty and staff following the approval of the hiring freeze.
“Positions affected by the hiring freeze include: regular FTE staff (existing vacancies), non-instructional academic employees (existing vacancies) and new temporary hires (All temporary positions will be evaluated, including existing temporary employees for whom a new ePAF would be required on July 1, 2020,” said Oates.
Since then, many departments and divisions have had to find solutions to make up for positions currently held in stasis by the hiring freeze. The Division of Academic Affairs is currently one of the departments with the most vacant positions, having six vacancies, according to information provided by News and Media Service Manager, Judy Longshaw.
“At the division level, Academic Affairs has responded to several vacant leadership positions, which has resulted in some redistribution of duties in the impacted areas,” said Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Adrienne McCormick. “In the colleges, we have hired adjuncts and redistributed some courses depending on which faculty positions we are holding vacant.”
“In some instances, we have hired temporary help. Some staff members were able to take on additional duties. But for the most part, we have looked for ways to be more efficient in meeting the job requirements in the impacted areas. Times like these often result in innovations that we may not have considered without an external disruption, such as the pandemic. Deans and department chairs have modified faculty course assignments and hired adjuncts to fill instructional needs,” McCormick said.
Another Winthrop administrative department dealing with vacancies is the Athletics division.
“We have permanently eliminated 2 full time positions at the beginning of the fiscal year,” said Vice President for Collegiate Athletics, Ken Halpin. “We have an additional 12 positions that have been vacant this year so far. This represents just over 20% of our full-time positions having been vacant this year. These vacancies have included coaches as well as administrators.”
“Many of these positions were left intentionally vacant because the only sports that have been competing have been men’s and women’s basketball. We plan to leave many of these positions vacant for the remainder of the fiscal year in order to be as fiscally conscientious as possible, but we are filling a couple of positions now as we anticipate all of our sports beginning competition this semester,” Halpin said.
Bennet said that there is currently intention to end the hiring freeze as long as there is a need to minimize operating expenses caused by COVID-19.
“These are not easy decisions to make, but they are warranted to ensure that we have the resources to continue to engage in exceptional teaching, learning and service; be an employer of choice; and support our current faculty and staff as we move into the future. Thank you for your support through these challenging times. Together we will continue to meet our vital educational mission while balancing the finances of the university,” Oates said.
Graph by Philip Nelson
