The second round of retirement packages offered to the employees on campus has yielded 47 participants, resulting in more than $3 million saved grossly to help lower the University’s expenses.
The 47 employees retiring is about half of the number the campus got when the University offered last year.
Retiring communications professor Kay Neal said she is worried about all the people leaving but thinks new employees will help the University be active toward the future.
“I think that’s going to be a challenge,” Neal said. “At the same time, you’ve got other [employees] that are probably right below them that can move into those positions, that have a lot of experience, and it gives opportunities for those individuals as well.”
Retiring German professor Alan Lareau said he thinks things have not been going smoothly on campus, and it’s a chance to get some fresh blood in, especially at the administrative level.
“It could be difficult, but it could also be a chance for a new beginning,” Lareau said.
Assistant Dean of the College of Nursing Suzanne Marnocha, who is also retiring, said it’s frightening how many people are leaving at the administrative level.
“I think everybody is trying to figure out how to shuffle and make it all work,” Marnocha said. “I think it will be OK. Change is hard, but it will be OK.”
Marnocha said her best day on campus is every day she steps in front of a class.
“I feel valued, I feel a connection, I feel like I can make a difference,” Marnocha said. “I feel the energy coming from students because I feel them wanting to learn. It’s huge, it’s absolutely huge.”
Lareau said his favorite memory working at UWO is when he taught a special seminar with the theater department, where they worked on a theater performance.
“We did a bilingual performance where the students read poems in German while the theater faculty did the material in English,” Lareau said. “That was the kind of collaboration I feel a university like this can really offer, and it was so important for our students.”
Neal said her best day on campus was when she won a distinguished teaching award.
“The chancellor came into my nonverbal class and the students gave me a standing ovation, so that was something memorable,” Neal said.
Neal said the most memorable thing on campus for her is her colleagues.
“I think the most enjoyable part is just, in some ways, the working environment and the people you work with,” Neal said. “We have great staff, great instructors, great colleagues. That’s the part you miss the most because when you’ve been here a long time, you develop a community and a rapport with people.”
Residence Life Director Tom Fojtik, who is also retiring, said his retirement is more of a sabbatical because he wants to work again sometime soon.
“I told a colleague yesterday, I’m being given the gift of time,” Fojtik said. “If I only get six months off before I start something else…imagine, even for yourself, six months off. That is a gift, and that’s the way I’m looking at it.”
