ROCK SPRINGS — Layoffs are coming to Western Wyoming Community College and they may be coming sooner rather than later.
The administration will be using an updated layoff policy when it initiates those reductions in work force. An expedited layoff policy revision was heard by the college’s board of trustees Thursday evening.
According to college policy, an expedited revision can take place if urgent action is necessary, allowing for a policy to skip the college’s Policies and Procedures Committee and be sent directly to the college’s compliance coordinator. Should a policy meet criteria for urgent consideration, it goes to President Kirk Young for review. That bypass option is valid for 180 days from a policy’s submission to Young before it must follow procedures outlined by the Policy and Procedures Committee.
Trustee Stephen Allen asked Young if the college needed the new policy before that 180 day deadline, to which Young gave a single-word answer.
“Yes,” he said.
The updated procedure highlights how workforce reductions are considered and provides an appeal procedure for those who have been impacted by layoffs. It also specifies that notice of a reduction in force will be provided 90 days before an employee’s position is terminated.
Amid controversy involving the elimination of the college’s volleyball program, the college is working toward addressing a $4 million funding deficit that was fueled by loss of property tax revenue as a result of action by the Wyoming Legislature, as well as a compensation adjustment plan approved before Young took over as the college’s president that he says seeks to pay fair wages to the college’s employees. The property tax issue hit the college in two areas, removing an estimated $750,000 from the college’s general budget and $250,000 from a mill levy that funded athletics, the children’s center and the college’s pool. Young also said the college has previously used its reserves to balance previous budgets, an act he warns will ensure the college won’t have reserves should it continue.
Young told the board additional cost-saving measures will be announced in the coming weeks.
