With the staff reductions announced on Nov. 18, the departments and faculty at Keene State have been reacting to the changes and loss of workers. Multiple departments were affected by the staff reductions, with the loss being the largest non-voluntary staff cut thus far.
Celia Rabinowitz, director of the Mason Library, spoke on the cuts made within her department, noting that Learning Systems Administrator John Lorette and Coordinator of Instructional Development Chris Odato saw both of their positions eliminated by the cuts.
Rabinowitz said Odato assisted faculty with their teaching, while Lorette worked with people on the backend to help campus community members understand technology for learning, such as Canvas.
Rabinowitz also clarified that there is still one staff member in the digital learning department who is still with them, and while they’re employed at the library, their position is based around “not traditional library work.”
Rabinowitz also reflected on the possibility of further staff reductions going forward.
“We don’t really know,” Rabinowitz said. “My hope is that if there needs to be a discussion that a larger group of us will be involved in the decisions.”
Rabinowitz also reflected on her thoughts prior to the reduced positions being announced.
“I think I was very aware that people were afraid or anticipating that it might happen,” Rabinowitz said. “I was not entirely sure. We think everyone who works with us is irreplaceable.”
Kim Schmidl-Gagne, president of KSC’s Affiliated Staff Association, addressed the reductions and why they occurred.
“The reasons were the financial deficit that the college is facing since the state legislature cut our budget on June 30,” Schmidl-Gagne said. “That cut was shared across the three institutions. Our portion of it, in this fiscal year, is 2.5 million, and next fiscal year is 1.5 million.”
Schmidl-Gagne went on to say that the reductions “are a move not just to save money for this year” as the “positions won’t be refilled,” saving money for next year as well.
Schmidl-Gagne also detailed which positions were eliminated under the reduction.
“Coordinator of student programs, web administrator, a couple of educational program coordinators, a senior associate director, a facilities manager, and the manager of theater operations at the Redfern. Those are the staff who are part of the staff unions, there were additional staff outside of the unions who were also retrenched.”
The Equinox independently confirmed the departures of the following staff members: Assistant Director of Transitions Michael Brown who oversaw the orientation program, Senior Associate Director of Admissions Bert Poirier, Theatre Operations Manager Jeremy Robarge, Coordinator of Institutional Ceremonies and CALL Misty Kennedy, Director of Facilities Services Marc Doyon, Supervisor of Plumbing/Heating Plant Operations Bill Rymes, Director of Marketing Paul Miller, Web Administrator Russ Cobb and the aforementioned eliminations of Odato and Lorette’s positions.
According to sources close to the matter, impacted staff will be paid in lieu of notice until Jan. 2.
Upper-level administrative officers were also the target of reductions, with Vice President of Enrollment and Student Engagement MB Lufkin, Interim Vice President of Advancement Hillary Shepard and Director of Strategic Project Management Michelle Wood leaving the college.
Schmidl-Gagne provided insight into why certain positions were cut.
“I think they were trying to look for positions that were not frontline positions for students,” Schmidl-Gagne said. “That was one criteria they had. I think they were trying to consolidate some functions.”
Schmidl-Gagne also reflected on the idea of further reductions and how it compares to previous cuts in past school years.
“I think there’s always that possibility,” Schmidl-Gagne said. “Since 2017, we’ve lost probably over 100 staff. It’s probably about half the size it was in 2017. Most of that occurred through packages that were offered that staff could opt into, so voluntary separations. This is the largest not-voluntary loss of staff that we’ve had.”
Chloe Erno can be contacted at
