33 ESF employees to resign after accepting voluntary separation program
Thirty-three SUNY ESF employees accepted offers to leave their positions this academic year as part of the school’s new voluntary separation program. Jaden Chen | Senior Staff Photographer
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UPDATE: This story was updated on Dec. 9 at 3:45 p.m.
Thirty-three SUNY ESF employees accepted offers to leave their staff and faculty positions this academic year as part of the school’s new voluntary separation program, according to a Sunday “campaign update” from ESF For Our Future — an organization of ESF students, staff and faculty concerned about the school’s fiscal stability plan.
The resignations count for about 8% of the school’s 398 full-time employees, an ESF spokesperson confirmed in a Tuesday statement to The Daily Orange.
On Aug. 19, ESF launched the program, offering a financial incentive for retirement-eligible full-time faculty and staff to resign. Applicants must have worked at the college for at least 10 years as of August.
The program is a key component of the school’s five-year stability plan, designed to help close its $10 million budgetary deficit. The SUNY-enforced stability plan — which has raised controversy among students, staff and faculty — asks ESF to cut 18.9% of its full-time staff by 2029 while increasing undergraduate enrollment by 16.1%, according to a document obtained by The Daily Orange in September.
The separation program received 40 applicants, all of whom were approved, the ESF spokesperson said. On Dec. 2, ESF President Joanie Mahoney announced 33 applicants accepted their final offers, according to the update.
The initial budget was only able to provide separation packages to 20 employees, but obtained more funding from the school’s foundation, the update states. The additional funding allowed the school to accept twice as many resignations than it intended, ESF For Our Future added in the update.
The ESF spokesperson denied these claims in its Tuesday statement, clarifying that the program never had a funding cap for applicants. While the program initially only saw $1 million in funding, the foundation later approved additional funding to provide payments to all 40 applicants, the spokesperson said.
The school will pay $1.295 million in separation packages for the final 33 applicants, which will come out to $3.6 million in salary savings, the spokesperson said.
The program offers applicants 15% of their current salary plus $1,000 for each year of ESF employment for their departure, Mahoney said at a Sept. 19 Board of Trustees meeting.
For ESF For Our Future, the program offers “good news … and some bad news,” according to the campaign update. While the number of voluntary resignations reaches SUNY’s goal of reducing 38.5% of its full-time staff by 2029, it said many resigned positions may go without being backfilled.
“The desire to avoid backfilling wherever possible risks overburdening our remaining faculty and staff, who will need to take on additional duties to fill these gaps,” the update reads.
The school will backfill positions based on supervisors’ succession plan recommendations, the ESF spokesperson said. ESF expects to promote internally when possible and launch external searches when necessary.
The university’s new stability planning committee will advise on replacing affected positions, ESF Mighty Oak Student Assembly President Daniel Vera said in a Monday statement to The D.O. He said Mahoney plans to backfill four positions, but the “actual number” remains to be seen.
“Our biggest concern with the finalization of the Voluntary Separation Program is the immediate loss of institutional knowledge,” Vera wrote. “In this moment, it is critical that we remain united and well-informed to ensure that decisions maximize long-term institutional well-being.”
Faculty and staff with teaching obligations must choose to leave the university effective Dec. 26, or May 20, 2026, according to the program’s webpage. Non-teaching staff can leave the university anytime between Dec. 18 and May 20.
