Students React to WKU Layoffs

Last month, we heard about the possibility of dozens of people losing their jobs at Western Kentucky University to combat a 15 million dollar budget deficit.

Now, we know just how many people have been let go.

On Monday, President Tim Caboni announced his difficult decision to make cuts University wide, eliminating 119 full time positions & one part time position.

Of those full time positions, 67 positions were filled & 57 were already vacant. There are currently over 2,000 full time positions at WKU. 

The budget deficit is the result of several factors, including a sharp decline in enrollment.

We spoke to a couple of students who say they are pretty stunned by the news.

One of them tells us she can’t imagine how the families of those let go must feel.

Between the filled and vacant positions, the budgeted salaries amount to 5 million dollars.

The students we spoke to say they hope the University can find an alternative to cutting positions in the future.