Seven staff members at the UNC School of the Arts have lost their jobs as a result of a $3 million cut in state funding, the school announced Thursday.
In addition, 12½ vacant staff and faculty positions and two faculty positions left open through retirement will not be filled.
The moves, as well as an overall reduction in operating costs, are in response to a $414 million cut in the state's appropriation to the 16 schools in the UNC system.
Chancellor John Mauceri said the layoffs and job eliminations were inevitable because salaries make up 75 percent of the school's overall budget.
The layoffs were spread across the campus, including such areas as facilities, the chancellor's office and the school of filmmaking.
"It's the single biggest cut the school has ever received in its history," Mauceri said. "We are not complaining about it because we are well aware that we are a public institution and we are dependent on the state to fund us. This is the result of the economic reality of the state, which is the result of the economic situation in the world. Our job is to protect the students and work even harder with less."
Rather than cutting budgets across the board, a board of governors' panel mandated cuts ranging from 8.4 to 17.9 percent. UNCSA was told to cut about $2.97 million, or 10.8 percent, from its $27.8 million state appropriation for 2011-12.
The school's overall budget is about $40 million.
The film school, which Mauceri said last year could be eliminated, was spared. In part, that was because of a campus-initiated tuition increase this year that brought in about $418,000, and the switch from trimesters to semesters, which resulted in a shift of money amounting to about $212,000.
"It was a borderline moment," Mauceri said about the decision to keep the film school.
Mauceri, the deans and chairs of the faculty and staff councils and a team of school leaders decided on the cuts.
The decision to reduce staff rather than faculty was made because of the school's role as a conservatory, Mauceri said.
"It means there is more hands-on teaching, more of a mentor relationship," Mauceri said. "You can't stand in front of 100 flute players and teach them to play flute. We were created to have individual artists teaching individual instruments and individual techniques."
The loss of staff, he said, may mean more phone calls and emails will go unanswered. Although the number of performances students give is expected to remain the same, the costumes and sets may not be as elaborate.
"We're hoping we can turn this into a creative learning experience and find creative solutions to difficult situations," Mauceri said.
Winston-Salem State University is still studying ways to cut $10.1 million from its state appropriation of $72 million. Eleven full-time employees have already lost their jobs. Officials are now looking at reducing the number of temporary employees and adjunct faculty, said Nancy Young, a WSSU spokeswoman.
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