The Operational Excellence for the 2nd Century (OE2C) Office announced Tuesday that staff positions across the University will be impacted after the first of the year.
According to the OE2C website, each vice president and dean have reviewed their organization charts and are creating more effective operational structures for their respective programs and departments, using tools provided by the OE2C project.
This process is in line with the plan of the Organization Design Initiative. The initiative’s goal is to adjust the level of staffing at SMU by consolidating jobs, speeding up work and saving funds for other areas in SMU.
The evaluation involved research and collaboration from the vice presidents, deans and the OE2C executive committee.
There is no official timeline for the staff position layoffs and no final decisions will be announced until after winter break. However, the OE2C Office stated that those affected will be notified beginning in the first quarter of the calendar year and continue on a longer timeline.
The OE2C Office announced Wednesday the details for severance packages for those affected in the Organization Design Initiative, which includes severance pay, retirement plans and job assistance.
The severance packages will use a severance pay formula, factoring the years of completed work and unused vacation days.
Released employees will also continue to receive three months coverage from COBRA medical and dental, up to five years of tuition benefits for family members still enrolled at SMU, and cash funds from the SMU Retirement Plan.
There will also be assistance in job placement with priority applicant status and outplacement services like networking support and resume development by Right and Associates.
Those who are rehired by SMU within one year of being released will be eligible to regain their original service date for vacation, retirement and service benefits.
The announcement comes about seven months after SMU began working with Bain & Company for the OE2C project. The project aims to decrease excess costs and restructure operations in order to create sustainable changes and services at SMU.
The project is now in its second phase where it is developing and designing solutions proposed. OE2C will continue to develop solutions before it enters its third stage of implementation, which will continue past 2015.
