Northwestern Law School Cuts Faculty, Staff Amid Budget Deficit

EVANSTON, IL — Northwestern University is cutting faculty and staff at its law school after each of the university's operations have been directed to cut spending by 5 percent this fiscal year, which began in September. Pritkzer School of Law Dean Kimberly Yuracko told faculty the school will end short-term contracts with some professors next year and eliminate some staff, clinical and vacant positions without reducing tenured professorships, Law.com reported.

“These have not been easy steps to take, especially in regard to our faculty and staff colleagues,” Yuracko said in an email to faculty, according to the legal news site. “We are trying to treat impacted individuals with sensitivity and are looking for ways to ease the stress of this transition.”

The law school, the email said, is in a "challenging financial position," but Yuracko told Law.com the cuts were more of a "rightsizing." The school also plans to expand enrollment in its Master of Law program to boost revenue.

In January, Northwestern Provost Jonathan Holloway told faculty the university was expecting to run a deficit of between $50 million and $100 million the fiscal year ending Aug. 31, according to the Daily Northwestern. In May, he told the Daily the school was not planning on laying anyone else off. The school has an operating budget of about $2 billion, and Holloway projected the school would be running a surplus by the end of 2019.

Northwestern announced in July it was laying off 80 administrative staffers and eliminating about 80 more unfilled positions while directing all departments to come up with 5 percent cuts. Students returning to campus for the 2018-19 academic year were confronted with cuts to school-funded student programs, the Daily Northwestern reported, including a 40 percent cut to the school's mock trial program.

Yuracko, who took over as dean of the Chicago-based law school in September, told Law.com she would have examined its expenses regardless of the university-wide request to make 5 percent spending reductions, although that spurred her to act quicker. She did not specify how many positions would be affected, but noted the law school would draw upon its reserves this year and need to make larger changes to stop losing money.

The cuts come as the school has raised nearly $236 million of its in its Motion to Lead fundraising campaign, as of October. The appeal's initial goal was $150 million, but it was increased after a record breaking gift. Three years ago the school received the largest single donation any law school has ever received when the Governor-elect J.B. Pritzker and his wife M.K. donated $100 million, according to the university. The gift led to the school being renamed the Pritzker School of Law. The contribution also renamed the Donald Pritzker Entrepreneurship Law Center after Mr. Pritzker's father, the co-founder and CEO of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation.

“I also understand it may be difficult to reconcile internal cost-cutting efforts with our recent fundraising successes,” Yuracko wrote to faculty, Law.com reported. “The law school, along with the university as a whole, is fortunate to have a generous donor community that has allowed us to increase financial aid and begin addressing student debt, among other initiatives. The money raised, however, is typically earmarked for specific uses in line with the donors’ wishes and cannot be redirected to operating expenses.” The law school's former dean, who presided over the Pritzker gift and renaming, told the site the bulk of the gift is invested as part of the school's endowment and not available for use.

According to U.S. News and World Reports, the law school has enrollment of 657 students and 244 faculty members. It was ranked No. 11 by the magazine for 2018, tied with Duke University School of Law. The cuts come as Northwestern as a whole approaches a $5 billion fundraising goal. As of the end of August, its "We Will" campaign had collected $4.07 billion from nearly 150,000 donors.

Earlier: Northwestern 'Suddenly' Lays Off Dozens Of Staffers To Reduce Deficit

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