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Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:
Over the last year, as it became apparent that we would need to reduce staffing
to address the college’s financial challenges, I promised that we would notify
affected employees as quickly as possible, to honor their service to Smith and support
their transition to alternative employment.
I want you to know that the notifications to staff members,
whether about position elimination or reduction, are now complete. In total, 44 staff
positions, in departments across the college, will be affected over the next two
years.
Any loss of co-workers and friends from our community is difficult; their contributions
and colleagueship will be deeply felt and missed. In the end, we were able to reduce
the number of people affected by holding open positions vacant, offering voluntary
reductions, and restructuring work in some areas.
Staff members whose positions are being eliminated have been given at least 60 days’ notice
and severance compensation of at least 10 weeks’ base pay plus supplemental
earnings related to their years of service at Smith. They are meeting with Human
Resources staff and have been offered outplacement services and career counseling.
For a full year beyond their notice date, they will retain the status of internal
applicants for any posted vacancies that occur at the college.
One of the more visible structural changes has taken place in the area of campus
safety. Effective July 1, Smith, Mount Holyoke and Hampshire colleges will be served
by a single public safety department with a centralized dispatch operation and base
offices on each campus. We were able to offer positions in this new collaborative
department to all but one of our employees. That individual, as well as those who
declined offers, received severance compensation.
Going forward, each campus can largely expect to be served by the officers who already
work there; additionally, the newly combined staff will take on the responsibility
of becoming familiar with all of the campuses in case the need for back-up arises.
I am grateful for the investment each of them will make in learning how best to serve
the safety needs of our three campus communities.
As staff in the libraries know, and as announced
by the Five College presidents earlier this spring, analysis is under way of the potential for consolidating library
technical services among our institutions, centralizing such operations as acquisitions,
cataloging, and materials processing. As we develop a plan, I will continue to communicate
with you about the changes in the coming year.
Finally, to aid departments in event planning, I wanted to mention a recent budget-related
decision regarding dining services. Starting this fall, the Smith College Club will
function as a catering venue only, providing meals for scheduled events and speaker
series such as the Liberal Arts Lunches, Teaching Arts Lunches and Sigma Xi, but
eliminating individual lunch service. The Campus Center Café will continue
to serve during its usual operating hours.
The changes detailed here as well as those in my previous
communications represent Smith’s two-year plan for permanently closing a budget gap of at
least $20 million. In developing this plan now, we are concluding a chapter that
other institutions are only now beginning to open. I ask your continued engagement,
creativity and collaboration as we reorganize processes across the college to serve
students in their education. Moving forward in this work together, I thank every
staff member for making Smith the extraordinary and transformative institution that
it is.
Sincerely,
Carol T. Christ
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