Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — Certain faculty cuts no longer are necessary at Youngstown State University after success with a voluntary separation or retirement plan, university officials announced Monday.

In January, YSU officials announced a “strategic plan” to invest in programs with high enrollment and market demand.

The university decided to phase out (sunset) certain majors due to low enrollment, limited market demand and / or constrained growth potential. The programs being phased out include geography, music composition (including graduate programs), music jazz studies (graduate program), art education and interdisciplinary studio art and digital media / photography.

Graphic and interactive design will become an individual major, separate from the studio art major.

At that meeting, Interim Provost Jennifer Pintar discussed the possibility of up to 13 faculty members facing retrenchment.

Monday, the university announced “that a sufficient number of faculty members opted for this opportunity, thus negating the need for any cuts,” according to a news release.

The program was offered to faculty in the phased-out majors and provided information on opportunities available within other university departments.

Twelve faculty members participated in the voluntary separation or retirement plan.

“Those who accepted the separation incentive will be compensated with 80% of their salary as part of the package for the upcoming academic year,” Pintar said in the news release.

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