[Clarification: The headline was changed to clarify that 63 employees were not losing their positions at Western Wyoming Community College. In total, 63 positions are impacted by the reorganization at the college, with 33 of those positions being eliminated.]

College to host public town hall meeting at its Rock Springs campus Saturday at noon in room 1302.

ROCK SPRINGS — Positions in security, information technology, the print shop, and instructor positions are among 63 positions being reorganized and eliminated at Western Wyoming Community College. When it’s finished, the college will have 33 fewer positions, which represent roughly 10% of its workforce.

An unofficial list of positions submitted to SweetwaterNOW was confirmed by President Kirk Young Friday, though he said the list doesn’t reflect which positions are being eliminated and what’s being reorganized.

Employee notifications occurred throughout the week, starting a 90-day notice period. Young said those employees were offered a 90-day separation agreement during those meetings. The college will offer six months of health insurance after the 90-day period ends. 

The college’s work to reorganize and eliminate positions partially stems from losing more than $1 million in revenue due to a reduction in property taxes, approximately $750,000 of which went to the college’s general budget. The other $250,000 lost came from reduced revenue from a mill levy supporting the college’s activities, aquatic center, and college’s children’s center and resulted in the college cutting its volleyball program.

Beyond the revenue declines, the college is working towards not relying on its reserves to balance its budgets and plans to fund the next phase of its compensation plan which aims to bring college salaries to levels comparable with other community colleges. Overall, the college’s budget reorganization will result in savings and reallocation of roughly $4 million to accomplish its goals.

The college will host a public town hall discussion about its budget reorganization and the impacted positions Saturday at noon in Room 1302. A similar meeting for the college’s employees took place Thursday.

“The town hall this week wasn’t fun,” President Kirk Young said to the college’s board of trustees Thursday evening.

Young clarified the job reorganization going on within the college, saying a total 63 positions are impacted in some way. Of that number, 30 are being reorganized into a new position, all of which were opened to the college’s internal applicants Thursday. One area department Young specifically mentioned is the college’s protective services department. That reorganization will see the college creating six campus safety coordinator positions, two of which will be full time, two part time, and two live-in positions at the college’s residence halls. Young said the two fulltime positions would be staggered to allow full coverage at the campus.

Security at the college will receive an overhaul with the change in how security is handled at the college, with Young saying more doors will require security keycards to access in the future. The safety coordinators will also be tasked with conducting student safety drills, something that hasn’t happened at the college and is an issue Trustee Ozzie Knezovich said the college is woefully behind on. 

The college’s wellness office was also impacted, with Young saying the department will hire a full time counselor for students and should demand exceed what that counselor can provide, the college will add other counselors on a contract basis. 

Young told SweetwaterNOW the college is also consolidating positions such as administrative assistant roles to be more efficient.