SATURDAY 3/8/08 -- The administrative overhaul NYU is planning would save the university $25 million a year, university officials announced yesterday.
Executive Vice President Mike Alfano released a university-wide memo yesterday afternoon detailing specifics of NYU's plan, which include a hiring freeze on administrative positions at the end of March and the consolidation of some departments.
But NYU is not planning any layoffs, Alfano stressed in an interview with WSN.
"We understand the difference between being an educational institution and a corporation. In the corporate world, it's all about making the quarter and your next numbers," Alfano said. "We're not talking about doing any layoffs. It's not in our plan."
Every year, NYU has 450 to 600 vacancies, according to the memo. By not hiring 500 people with an average salary of $50,000 each, NYU would save the projected $25 million, Alfano noted.
To make that possible, employees may be reassigned to other positions, with some being retrained or promoted, the memo says.
Money freed up by the overhaul will go back into NYU programs, like financial aid, Alfano said.
He also announced that three departments -- Facilities, Construction and Management; Faculty Housing; and Campus Services -- are being merged into a new Operations Department. The department will be headed by Alison Leary, the former vice president for facilities and construction management.
The departments formerly had separate financial and human resources staffs, Alfano said.
"By consolidating them into one group, you have more people working who back each other up in case of emergency or vacation," he said. "It's really a better way of doing business."
Alfano also announced:
• A program that would invite NYU's schools to make similar cuts, with any money they make going back into that school's programs. Two schools have already signed up for the program, Alfano said, and those savings would not be part of the $25 million.
• The creation of a task force to evaluate the progress and effectiveness of all programs that are being implemented. The group includes deans from five of NYU's undergraduate and graduate schools.
• A new effort to take better advantage of NYU's existing space, particularly in lecture halls and classrooms.
The last point is important because NYU's average class size has been decreasing steadily in recent years, Alfano said, meaning that lecture halls and classrooms that had been retrofitted to hold larger groups are no longer necessary. Many are either outdated our too big for a personal setting, Alfano said, adding that NYU should retrofit existing classrooms before building new ones.
"We buy those classrooms for you, we heat them, we cool them, we guard them," Alfano said. "When they're not used, it's your tuition being fallowed. We live in Manhattan and space is extremely expensive. I believe we're not shepherding the resources you give us well, if we don't try to change these things."
Additional reporting by Jane C. Timm. Eric Platt is deputy university editor. Email him at eplatt@nyunews.com
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