Eight faculty members were approved for the Career Transition Incentive (CTI) program.
The Equinox previously reported in Feb. 2024, the plan was offered to the Keene State College Education Association (KSCEA) tenure track and clinical faculty age 55 or older who have been with the school for 10 or more years.
James Beeby, provost and vice president of academic affairs, said he could not share which faculty members are leaving and the departments they are from because of privacy, but told The Equinox Psychology and Management have faculty that were approved for the CTI plan.
While eight have been approved now, Beeby said the application form was reopened for a limited time for faculty who might not have made the cut based on the original criteria.
“[Some] faculty members were very close to the criteria, but ineligible,” Beeby said.
Nathalie Houder, vice president for finance and administration, said the college expects at least one more person to be approved for the plan, bringing the total to nine. However, she said more is possible because sometimes people will wait until the end to apply.
She said the second window to apply for the CTI program closed on Monday, April 29, and had a 10-day opening period.
Similar to last time, any potential applicants will go through a review process to be approved.
Houder said the plan is expected to reduce the college’s deficit budget by $662,000; however, that estimate was based on the original plan of 10 faculty members being accepted for the CTI program. This cost savings is even with the potential to backfill positions.
Houder said the deficit budget for fiscal year 2024 was $2.5 million.
“The strategy behind it was we wanted to provide stability in some of the departments, but also have that ability to say ‘OK, that’s great, you’ve done a great job for Keene State, but now we’re seeing demand over here,’” Houder said.
Houder said, while not set in stone, six or seven positions could be backfilled.
More accurate numbers in terms of cost savings will be determined once the FY25 budget is finalized in the coming weeks she said.
On backfilling positions, Beeby said the college is, “Committed overall, to support the departments that we need to.”
Beeby did not make mention of any specific percentages of how many will be backfilled.
Previously, The Equinox reported, the college intended to backfill 70% of the positions, while not necessarily in the departments that experienced departures.
Beeby explained this plan was something some faculty members wanted to happen and negotiated with the KSCEA.
“This was a request of faculty and we were happy to do this and we want to wish them all the best,” Beeby said.
Tim Bruns can be contacted at
tbruns@kscequinox.com
