Colorado State University-Pueblo is eliminating 24 staff positions to address the school’s $3 million deficit.

CSU-Pueblo President Tim Mottet said Thursday that 16 positions would be affected through voluntary retirement, separation incentives and nonreplacement of vacant positions. Eight cuts would be nonvoluntary.

Through these reductions, the university would reduce expenses by $2.6 million, which includes departmental and operational costs and capitalizing on faculty buyouts from external grants.

The President’s Budget Advisory Council is exploring how to balance the remainder of the deficit.

“As you know, we are facing a $3 million deficit for fiscal year 2020. Our goal is to align expenses with revenues in a tough enrollment environment that allows us to be sustainable,” Mottet said in a letter to the campus community late Thursday.

“Being sustainable means generating enough revenues to continue building the student experience while taking care of our employees.”

Mottet said voluntary position cuts will come from the art, athletics, biology, engineering, English, sociology, history and math departments, as well as from the Hassan School of Business, facilities, the library and the president’s office.

The eight nonvoluntary positions would come from the Center for International programs, mass communications and engineering and physics.

Over the past several months, the vice presidents, provost and Mottet have been working with department heads, deans and the leadership of athletics to identify ways to align the university’s expenses with its revenues.

Mottet said they have been working through a combination of university and division-level cost reductions.

“I met with each of the vice presidents and the provost to review their proposed reductions. These proposals were also reviewed and discussed with members of the President’s Budget Advisory Council,” Mottet said.

Mottet said he and other leaders discussed minimizing the impact of “these difficult decisions on people.”

Mottet said to reduce personnel costs, which account for about 60 percent of CSU-Pueblo’s expenditures, the group looked at nonreplacements or vacant positions in areas that need strategic balancing.

They also considered proposals for voluntary reductions in personnel and operational costs, such as revisiting existing contracts, services and supplies, as well as reinvesting personnel in low-resource or growing areas.

“It was only after exploring all of these options that a strategic reduction in personnel was considered in areas where there was duplication of functions and staff,” Mottet said.

School officials reviewed academic programs with ongoing, multiyear declines in enrollment that create an imbalance of resources and revenues.

“Our goal is to be strategic in every decision,” Mottet said. “We are doing all we can to communicate with these impacted colleagues and supporting them through job placement and other assistance where appropriate.”

He said that those who are leaving the school deserve gratitude and support for their service.

The university has seen a steady decline in enrollment since 2011, when there were 5,230 students. In 2018, there were 3,936 students enrolled.

The highest level of enrollment was misleading, though, as some students who did not pay for tuition were kept on the school's rolls. Eventually, those students were cut, and the enrollment figures accurately reflected the number of paying students.

In 2014-15, CSU-Pueblo fought through position cuts that were planned to make up for an estimated $3.3 million deficit in fiscal year 2015, which began in July of that year.

In January 2015, then-President Lesley Di Mare announced during an open forum that 22 positions would be severed and that 19 jobs that were vacant for two years would remain unfilled. The cuts were less than the 50 reductions originally projected, though that did little to comfort students, faculty and staff.

Students protested the reductions on several occasions. Members of the Save CSU-Pueblo Coalition asked students on campus to sign a petition urging the governor, the CSU System Board of Governors and chancellor to stop the cuts.

“I realize many of you have been through these types of reductions in the past. Please know that I am committed to keeping you informed of our plans and next steps as we move forward to reduce the uncertainty and speculation that can occur,” Mottet said.

Mottet called it a challenging time for everyone.

“I am confident that with these short and long-term changes, CSU-Pueblo will continue to evolve into a university that meets the needs of its students, employees and community,” he said.

amestas@chieftain.com

Twitter: @mestas3517