UT records show 59 jobs lost April 2, not all in former DEI positions; restructuring cited

Records obtained by the American-Statesman show 10 more people were terminated from the University of Texas on the same day 49 people were dismissed as a result of the state's ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs at universities.

While UT says the 10 additional terminations were unrelated to the anti-DEI law, the job cuts represent a loss of positions in a student-facing division and added to a sense of distrust among some faculty members who spoke to the Statesman.

UT President Jay Hartzell previously said 49 terminations had occurred April 2 as part of the university shuttering its Division of Campus and Community Engagement and cutting former DEI programs and positions to further comply with the anti-DEI law, Senate Bill 17.

The 10 other terminations revealed in records — two from the Division of Student Affairs and eight from the Office of the Dean of Students — were unrelated to the anti-DEI law, UT spokesperson Mike Rosen said.

The Division of Student Affairs termination letters said the employees were let go due to changing "business needs" and a need to conserve financial resources while improving efficiency. Rosen said "changes were necessary" in that division as the interim vice president for student affairs, Tom Dison, instates a new organizational structure that includes separating his role from the dean of students position. Soncia Reagins-Lilly, who retired in January, previously held both positions, but they are now held separately by interim leaders. Those positions are not related to DEI.

Rosen had previously said eight unrelated terminations happened April 2, but the records confirmed 10 people from the Division of Student Affairs had been let go, though one was offered a new position.

What was lost due to the restructuring?

In his first time addressing the layoffs since the announcement, Hartzell told faculty members at a council meeting last Monday that 49 people were terminated with 94 days' notice April 2. He said an additional eight associate or assistant dean positions were eliminated, sending the people back to their former faculty positions. The records the Statesman received corroborated this.

In case you missed it: University of Texas confirms nearly 60 workers were laid off, most in former DEI positions

At a UT Staff Council meeting Thursday, Hartzell said the university has recouped about $10 million in recurring costs from the cut programs and the salary and benefits associated with each staff position, which will now go back into research and teaching.

Hartzell said the decision was due to conservative pressure to comply further with SB 17, though he said he believes that the university was compliant by Jan. 1. He said more changes are not expected.

“We do not see or expect additional eliminations of positions as part of this,” Hartzell said Thursday. “This was our best understanding of the world we live in and how to do what we needed to do for the university.”

More: 'We did not see this coming': UT staff, students react to layoffs, DCCE closure after SB17

The Division of Campus and Community Engagement, the closure of which Hartzell announced April 2, had 39 terminations alone, according to the records.

The terminations not in Student Affairs or in the engagement division were two employees in the Red McCombs School of Business; one in University Business Services; one in Texas Career Engagement; three in the Dell Medical School, including one associate dean; and three in the Cockrell School of Engineering.

More: Sources: UT lays off at least 60 employees previously in DEI-related position, closes DCCE

The eight associate and assistant deans who lost their administrative positions were told that they would return to the faculty positions they previously had full time starting May 31 or June 1.

In their letters, the associate deans were told that if they are receiving salary support, it will end Aug. 15, except for one letter that offered it through Aug. 31.

More: What UT lost with SB 17: American-Statesman's guide to changes due to Texas' anti-DEI law

Hartzell’s count of people affected did not include student positions that will not be renewed in the fall, Rosen said.

Impact of terminations?

The Texas Conference and the UT Austin chapter of the American Association of University Professors have said the number of terminations is 62, which they said is the number of former employees who self-reported layoffs April 2.

Rosen said "that number conflates different actions by different decision makers made for different reasons."

More: Senate Education Committee is warning universities to comply with anti-DEI law. Here's why

At a Staff Council meeting, Hartzell reasserted that only 49 terminations occurred because of his reorganization. He said he would work to address communication on campus and told staffers not to “be afraid to ask.”

But Pauline Turner Strong, the president of UT Austin AAUP, told the Statesman that trust has already been lost, especially as staffers cannot pursue grievances related to the terminations.

She said the majority of positions lost both in Hartzell’s count and in Student Affairs were student-facing jobs.

“The way in which these terminations occurred has created a lack of trust between staff, students and faculty on the one hand and the administration on the other hand,” she said. “It is not an adequate justification for the terminations.”

Hartzell said he understands this is a challenging time and said the university will support staff members through this.

“My hope is to continue to move forward as a university community,” Hartzell told staffers Thursday. “We've got a great mission that we do, serving our students, serving our research, creating knowledge and disseminating that knowledge to our students and out into the world at large. And so I think it’s going to be important, as time goes on, for us to continue to focus on those things.”

Staff writer Emiliano Tahui Gómez contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: DEI layoffs: UT records reveal 59 jobs lost April 2