University of New Orleans Wants LSU Board’s Permission to Layoff Faculty and Cut Programs
BATON ROUGE, La.
The University of New Orleans wants to declare a financial emergency so it can shed programs and shrink faculty after state spending cuts and a drop in tuition income caused by Hurricane Katrina.
UNO Chancellor Tim Ryan didn’t offer specifics for what departments would be slashed at a recent LSU board of supervisors committee meeting where he said the university wants to declare “financial exigency.”
Financial exigency allows university leaders to brush aside employee contracts, including tenure.
LSU board members can decide whether to allow UNO to make the declaration as soon as March 10, though several members said they will likely not take action until late April.
Ryan says the university needed to act quickly.
