CSU Monterey Bay lays off 16 personnel to solve financial deficit

SEASIDE, Calif. (KION-TV) -- CSU Monterey Bay laid off several staff members as the result of a budget deficit, effecting 16 positions total.

As the 2023-2024 school year at CSU Monterey Bay came to an end, so did some positions at the school.

CSUMB says that 12 staff members and 4 management personnel were dissolved.

This all comes as a result of the school's budget deficit. For the 2024-2025 school year, it faced an $11 to $12 million deficit.

KION talked to one of the staff members who was laid off. They wish to remain anonymous because they do hope to be employed at the school again in the future.

They tell me after working at the school for 10 years, it came as a shock to hear he was being let go. He understands the circumstances after hearing the school had been looking for other ways to deal with the deficit.

Some of those ways include: Eliminating open positions, restructuring departments, increasing student-faculty ratio, centralizing open positions and approval for new hiring and the voluntary separation incentive program.

The voluntary separation incentive program is intended to encourage employees to separate through a severance package before June 30th of this year.

"Without the positions being filled, they're gonna have teachers either overworked long-term classes or just not provide certain classes at all. And, well, this is going to be a pretty sizable campus for, the university. But even then, I don't think anyone wants to be in an overcrowded classroom," Eric Garcia student at CSUMB.

The school says it needs to maintain a firm financial footing for sustainable growth.

In a statement from Walter Ryce the spokesperson for the university he says quote:
"We have done everything to minimize the number of positions we had to eliminate. Cal State Monterey Bay is addressing the current budget reductions to ensure sustainable growth while providing quality educational opportunities to our students and providing room to focus on strategic initiatives in the future."

CSUMB says that laid-off employees will receive paid notice of 30-60 days.

The university says it's still working through reorganizational shifts and restructuring to continue providing education to students.