Emporia State University (ESU) will not be identifying the departments hit by the school’s terminations last week, citing privacy concerns for affected faculty, The Emporia Gazette reported.
“We are trying to be very sensitive to the people who have been laid off and respect their privacy,” ESU spokesperson Gwen Larson said.
Larson also did not comment on why those in the school’s “strike-zone” programs — programs ESU designated as successful — were terminated. ESU’s biology and business programs were listed in the “strike zone” but faculty in both departments have been laid off, according to sources to The Gazette.
“I think that as we can speak about what changes may be made in Biology [for example], maybe that will answer that question, but I just don’t think we’re there yet,” Larson said.
33 faculty members have been notified of their terminations.
The layoffs came after the Kansas Board of Regents approved a proposal by ESU leadership last week for a “workforce management” framework, allowing ESU to terminate even tenured faculty and discontinue programs as it “realigns” its focus amid enrollment and budget deficits.
More changes under the framework will be announced soon, Larson said.
