Savannah State University (SSU) announced plans to lay off 26 non-tenured faculty members due to budget cuts tied to declining student enrollment and state-allocated funding.
The affected faculty members will stay on through the 2018-19 academic year and will not have their contracts renewed for the 2019-20 year. Individuals will receive transition assistance and be eligible to apply for future opportunities at SSU or other institutions within the University System of Georgia (USG).
“While we have taken some interim measures to address the loss of revenue, such as eliminating vacant positions and placing restrictions on new hires, these are not sustainable options given the budgetary circumstances,” said SSU president Dr. Cheryl D. Dozier in a letter to faculty and staff.
SSU is the oldest public historically Black college or university (HBCU) in Georgia. In the last two years, the university saw a 10.6 percent enrollment decline in fall 2017 and a 7.9 percent decline in fall 2018, according to news reports.
Dozier foretold, in her letter, that SSU would cut the number of university personnel to address the decrease in state funding influenced by the aforementioned enrollment numbers.
“All SSU faculty and staff are deeply valued and we appreciate their dedicated service to SSU,” Dozier said.
Dr. Jenni Halpin, associate professor of English at SSU and vice chair of the Faculty Senate, declined to speak on behalf of her colleagues due to the sensitive nature of the issue.
