HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – Tidewater Community College sent a statement to full-time faculty stating that layoffs will be coming soon.
The email told full-time faculty at the school that because of a $4 to 6 million budget deficit, TCC will be making necessary layoffs in departments of English, English Fundamentals and Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
The email sent by TCC President, Dr. Edna V. Baehre-Kolovani, said, “please know that these discussions are painful; we know they affect people’s lives and their livelihood. Yet, the budget shortfall is a reality that we must address strategically, decisively and compassionately.”
TCC also said that it will be looking into the approval of further reductions in those disciplines, and that decisions will be communicated to affected staff no later than Mach 15.
The College is working with faculty to come up with cost saving solutions that could further reduce the potential for layoffs at TCC, and are even asking faculty for help in coming up in solutions through their Faculty Senate.
“Subsequent to the budget meeting, Beth Lunde and I met with Judy Gill to review these two target areas and to share with her some other cost-saving options we are considering. We asked her to share our discussion with the Faculty Senate this afternoon, and to solicit ideas and recommendations from faculty on any options they would want to put forward. Further, we discussed exploring released time and overload pay options with faculty as a means to help reduce expenditures,” said the email from TCC’s President.
The email said that faculty would have to work through their Faculty Senate to express ideas for ways to address the budget shortfall.
