U Southern Mississippi Cuts Dozens of Positions

The University of Southern Mississippi is eliminating 17 faculty jobs and 16 staff positions, all vacant, as it deals with a 10 percent budget cut, the Hattiesburg American reported. Four additional employees were laid off this spring. One has since been rehired for the upcoming academic year with one-time funding. The university has lost about $8 million in state funding this year, according to the American. The university also cut nine filled staff positions in 2015-16 due to budget cuts stemming from a decline in enrollment. Even tenured professors were included in a previous round of layoffs, in 2010.