ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Twelve active staff positions have been eliminated and separation notices went out this week at the University of North Carolina Asheville, an “unavoidable” reaction to sagging enrollment and a $6 million budget deficit, Chancellor Kimberly van Noort announced in a letter to the university community.
Van Noort expressed regret in the letter, saying she was “deeply disappointed that a reduction in force was necessary.
“We didn’t want to part with any of our valued colleagues, and we pursued every avenue to reduce the number affected in this difficult period,” she wrote in the letter, which was shared with 828newsNOW by the university’s communications office.
The letter outlines how the 12 positions are being eliminated in Student Affairs, Academic Affairs and the Office of the Chancellor. Van Noort indicated that the cuts could have been much deeper if the university had not already taken steps such as leaving positions open following retirements or staff departures, suspending or eliminating some unfilled roles, and reassigning some staff to other positions.
chancellor wrote about the challenges that remain as UNC Asheville has faced a roughly 25 percent enrollment decline over the past five years. It has left the institution with a projected budget deficit of $6 million for the current fiscal year and $8 million deficit for the next fiscal year.
“Our enrollment on August 30 — census day — will determine if we need additional adjustments at that point,” van Noort wrote.
The employee separations were part of a four-step approach to stabilizing the university’s finances, also including efforts to tighten immediate spending practices, evaluating the university’s portfolio of academic programs, and close monitoring of enrollment and financial trends.
In the letter, the chancellor said the goal for 2030 remains building a sustainable enrollment of 3,800 to 4,000 students “drawn to — and supported by — our commitment to the vision of an innovative public liberal arts and sciences university of the future.”
But she also lamented that a nationwide trend of financial pressures on colleges and universities was hitting home with this week’s force reduction.
“As we explored cost-management options,” she wrote, “it became clear that reducing our workforce is an unavoidable part of our path to operational sustainability.”