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Adelphi to lay off more than 60 employees by the end of the month

Robert Pelaez
More than 60 Adelphi University employees will be laid off by the end of the month, according to officials. (Photo courtesy of Adelphi University)

Adelphi University will layoff more than 60 employees by the end of the month due to financial struggles as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a spokesperson from the college.

Adelphi’s director of strategic communications, Todd Wilson, said these 62 layoffs will not include faculty positions in a statement last week.

Wilson said the university “has faced difficult financial decisions in recent months due to the effects of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. We have taken many steps to increase revenue and to cut costs where possible and have explored all financial remedies available to us,” Wilson continued.

Wilson said Adelphi is also offering those who were laid off a severance package featuring career transition services, a one-month coverage of COBRA premiums, and the Cigna Employee Assistance Program to aid in the mental health and well being of all affected individuals.

The layoffs came four months after Adelphi laid off 160 part-time employees in May due to the virus.  Despite teaching positions are not included in the most recent rounds of layoffs, officials said, some of the positions are remaining frozen.

Wilson noted that the university has explored a variety of options to cut costs due to financial uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

“We have taken many steps to increase revenue and to cut costs where possible and have explored all financial remedies available to us,” Wilson said. “These efforts included freezing open positions across the University, curtailing discretionary spending, cutting capital budgets, reducing hourly workers, freezing salaries, accepting voluntary salary reductions from administrators, and offering early-retirement packages.”

“It took months of intense work to get where we are, and it will take the cooperation of each of us to keep our campus community safe,” Adelphi’s Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students R. Sentwali Bakari said in a letter to the campus community. “Quite simply, it is not fair that the careless and selfish actions of a few have the ability to undo what we have all worked so hard to achieve.”

Adelphi has resumed in-person instruction after closing the university in the spring along with most others throughout the nation.  As of Sept. 17, five students had tested positive for the virus and 16 more were quarantined after students attended an off-campus event where social distancing guidelines were not adhered to, according to officials.

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