Excerpt from the Dayton Daily News
Wright State University employed around 270 fewer people last year than it did in 2017 as positions were not filled in an attempt to rebuild the school’s troubled finances after years of overspending.
Wright State spent close to $164.6 million on payroll last year, $13 million less than it did the previous year, school records analyzed by the Dayton Daily News Payroll Project show. WSU administrators have long pursued attrition as a way to reduce spending at the school.
“Not only have we not filled the vacancies but we’ve eliminated a lot of the positions too,” said Walt Branson WSU chief business officer. “So, a lot of those vacancies don’t even sit on our books anymore.”
Wright State has been trying to claw its way out of a budget crisis for years. In fiscal year 2018, the school reduced spending by around $53 million and administrators have projected revenue to decline by around $10 million or so during the current fiscal year.
Attrition and the elimination of positions that went vacant has been an issue of contention between the administration and the Wright State chapter of the American Association of University Professors in recent years.
“There were a lot of savings there and I think there’s going to continue to be savings there,” said Martin Kich, president of the AAUP-WSU.
