ISU announces engineering job cuts

AMES -- Iowa State University officials today announced job cuts in the College of Engineering, due to state budget cuts.

College of Engineering leaders this week informed 22 administrative staff that their jobs have been eliminated or are scheduled for elimination, officials said in a news release Tuesday. The college also reorganized several administrative units.

The changes come in response to reductions in state aid to ISU, as part of the fiscal 2011 budget, which begins July 1. The changes will reduce the college's annual budget by more than $1 million, officials said, and follow three previously announced program eliminations: the Engineering Policy and Leadership Institute; the Faculty and Staff Portfolio System; and PERUSE (Providing Experiences in Research for Undergraduate Students in Engineering).

“This difficult process was necessary to protect the quality of our educational programs and nationally ranked engineering degrees,” college Dean Jonathan Wickert said in the release. “The administrative reductions will allow us to focus resources on the faculty and academic departments that teach our students in the classroom and laboratory.”

Units affected include communications, computing support services, alumni and corporate relations, distance education, graduate and research programs, and academic and student affairs, including international programs.

No faculty positions were cut due to the reorganization, no degree programs closed, and no academic departments merged, Wickert noted. The administrative changes were approved by university leaders.