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The University of Saskatchewan plans to offer voluntary buyouts to members of the 1,100-strong Administrative and Supervisory Personnel Association (ASPA) union as part of a plan to deal with a five per cent cut to its operating grant.

The buyouts will be offered between June 1 and June 30, and applicants must be willing to leave their jobs by the end of January 2018, according to an internal memo obtained Wednesday by The Saskatoon StarPhoenix.

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“The president has been clear that attrition and voluntary options is where we will look first to find savings in salaries and benefits,” U of S vice president of human resources Cheryl Carver said in the memo.

The cuts are a direct result of the Saskatchewan Party government’s 2017-18 budget, which cut funding for universities by $25 million and led to the U of S announcing $12.2 million in proposed cuts to programs and services.

Carver said in the memo that salaries and benefits make up 70 per cent of the university’s operating budget.