UW–Platteville is cutting 111 jobs through a combination of retirements, layoffs, nonrenewals of contracts, and not filling open positions.
The $9 million in budget cuts, including the job cuts, are to eliminate a structural deficit in time for the university’s 2024–25 fiscal year.
“Through re-organization, expenditure reductions, increased revenues, restructuring divisions and departments and the difficult task of position elimination, we have reduced our fiscal year 2025 structural deficit by over $9 million, and we will be submitting a balanced budget for the upcoming year,” said Chancellor Tammy Evetovich in an email to UW–Platteville employees Wednesday. “While our university may look different in some areas going forward, our commitment to the students’ learning experiences will remain as strong as it has for the last 158 years.”
Sixty UWP employees are being laid off or non-renewed. Another 32 employees are retiring through UWP’s Voluntary Separation Incentive Program. UWP will not be filling 20 retirees’ positions, and will be permanently cutting 31 open positions.
The job cuts, totaling 12 percent of the UWP workforce, include 49 academic staff, 27 UWP staff, 20 limited-term appointments, 11 faculty retirements and four other positions. Evetovich’s email said UWP has eliminated 27 positions in its Administrators and Academic Leaders category over the past year.
UW–Platteville is offering outplacement assistance for its departing employees through the Southwest Wisconsin Job Center. Layoff notices will be from three to 12 months depending on employment classification and years working at UWP, according to Evetovich’semail.
UW–Platteville announced its enrollment increased for the first time in seven years, including increases in new freshman enrollment on the main and Baraboo/Sauk County campuses and increases in new transfer students on the Platteville campus and in online programs.
Enrollment was estimated in September at 6,702, up an estimated 3 percent from fall 2022.
UW–Platteville is not the only UW System university facing financial issues. Gov. Tony Evers had proposed a $305 million increase in the 2023–25 state budget, but the Republican-controlled Legislature cut funding by $32 million in an attempt to defund campus diversity offices.
UW–Oshkosh dealt with an $18 million structural deficit in this fiscal year through 140 layoffs, 76 voluntary retirements and not filling 34½ vacant positions.
UW–Green Bay cut nine positions and enacted furloughs for employees who make more than $100,000 to address a $2.2 million deficit.
UW–Madison’s cut totaled $7 million. UW–Milwaukee had funding reduced by $1.8 million.
The UW System also is closing the UW–Platteville Richland campus in Richland Center (see page 10B), the UWO Fond du Lac campus and the UWM West Bend campus. In-person instruction is ending in Fond du Lac and West Bend June 30, one year after in-person instruction ended on the Richland campus.
