40 staff members at UNR receive notices of layoffs

RENO -- The University of Nevada, Reno has notified about 40 upper-level staff that they will lose their jobs within a year because of the state's escalating budget crisis.

UNR President Milton Glick called the layoffs Draconian but necessary in anticipation of projected 14 percent cuts Gov. Jim Gibbons has told the university to prepare for during the 2009-11 budget cycle.

"As of today, our campus is different," said Bill Follette, head of the faculty senate.

The university absorbed a 4.5 percent budget reduction in January. An additional 2 percent to 4 percent reduction is expected this summer to address the state's $1.6 billion shortfall in 2007-09.

The layoffs were preceded by other cost-cutting measures last week that included voluntary early retirement and a hiring freeze.