MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Officials at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh plan to lay off scores of employees, offer early retirement deals and impose furloughs as they grapple with a projected $18 million deficit. Chancellor Andrew Leavitt announced the moves Thursday. He says years of declining enrollment has created the deficit. He says the university plans to shed about 200 employees through a combination of layoffs and early retirements. Leavitt says all employees also will be furloughed starting this fall. The chancellor insisted that faculty members will not face layoffs and no academic programs will be cut, saying officials want to shield students. System officials decided in December to close UW-Richland Center, a two-year campus, after enrollment there dropped by 90%. Enrollment at UW-Oshkosh stood at about 15,000 students during the 2022-23 academic year, according to the university’s website, but Leavitt said campus officials project that figure will drop by about 3% this fall. Republican lawmakers in 2021 lifted a tuition freeze they imposed in 2013, giving regents the freedom to pull more money from students. The regents approved a systemwide 5% tuition increase in March, but UW-Oshkosh officials say it won’t be enough to close their deficit. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers proposed a $305 million increase for the system in his 2023-25 budget. Rather than tapping the state’s $7 billion surplus, Republican lawmakers cut the system by $32 million, the amount of money the GOP believes the system spends on efforts to increase diversity and equity on campus. UW System Jay Rothman said during Thursday’s news conference that chancellors at those schools are working on their own plans to address their respective shortfalls. He did not elaborate. Democratic legislators blamed Republicans for forcing UW-Oshkosh to take drastic actions. “They (Republicans) got what they wanted: staff losing their jobs, and our public university once again suffering under GOP attacks,” Sen. Kelda Roys of Madison said in a statement. “The UW System needs to be fully funded and should never have been put in this position.” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, the Legislature’s top Republicans, didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.
