A study of financial retrenchment policies and procedures for personnel and program reduction in selected four-year institutions

The purposes of the study were (1) to suggest appropriate guidelines for personnel reduction in higher education based on documented data about present program and personnel reduction policies of selected four-year public and private institutions and (2) to provide information about the planning for future reduction being done by those institutions which had not experienced such reduction. Information was gathered via mailed questionnaires from a nationwide sample of four-year accredited institutions.

An analysis of the data revealed that a majority of institutions having terminated personnel had policies for such terminations. However, only 30 percent of those not having reduced personnel reported the existence of policy statements. There was limited participation by a cross section of campus groups in formulation of statements of policies and procedures for reduction.

Decreased enrollments and increases in operating costs were most frequently cited as reasons for having to terminate personnel, but no one group of employees was disproportionately affected by the termination process.

The study explored the priorities and procedures employed when personnel and programs were terminated as well as the effectiveness of those priorities and procedures in solving financial problems. The data revealed that the procedures for personnel terminations most frequently used were the least effective in solving fiscal problems.

When programs were discontinued, the decisions were based on studentteacher ratio, number of majors, and relative cost of the program.

The following guidelines for reduction policies were suggested, based on their cost effectiveness:

1. The most effective procedure for terminating faculty is to terminate a program or discipline.

Retrenchment decisions should be programmatically based, not tenure based.

3. Performance should be a higher priority in determining who is to be terminated than either tenure or length of service.