Price Lab, UNI Faculty Wait to Hear if $1.3 Million in Savings Will Be Enough

Malcolm Price Laboratory School faculty member Courtney Clausen is waiting to find out if she has a job next year.

"Waiting is something that all of us here have gotten used to," she said. She teaches social studies at . "So it's become a way of life at this point. All of us here are just doing our best to educate the students as we close out the school year."

The K-12 school is slated for closure, part of controversial budget cuts at the . UNI administrators have said the cuts are necessary to close a burgeoning budget gap.

While many Price Lab faculty will be offered continuing positions in UNI's teacher education program, the university has implied there may not be enough jobs for all of them. Four teachers received termination notices, faculty members said, and those teachers are still waiting to hear if they will stay on next year.

Last week, it was reported UNI expects to save about $1.3 million from 12 tenured faculty members across the university, including two from Price Lab, who have accepted buyouts.

The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported on the expected savings: seven participants took the early separation incentive plan, in addition to five who will take a phased two-year retirement option.

What remains to be seen is how many, if any, additional faculty will be laid off to meet UNI's budget goals. University Relations spokeswoman Stacey Christensen told Cedar Falls Patch that announcement could come from Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs Virginia Arthur's office at the end of May or beginning of June.

The buyouts were offered to 21 tenured Price Lab faculty and 50 additional tenured faculty members. What is unknown is whether any of those who did not accept the buyout will now face layoffs and whether any non-tenured faculty will lose their jobs.