Faculty layoffs throughout the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education are likely on the horizon, but Slippery Rock University makes its own decisions.

According to news reports, a total of 350 professors were at risk of losing their jobs with about 220 of those positions being from California, Clarion, Edinboro and Indiana universities of Pennsylvania.

A request for comment to Jamie Martin, president of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties and an IUP professor, Tuesday was not immediately returned. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette attributed the number put on the potential layoffs to Martin.

Dave Pidgeon, director of public relations for PASSHE, said the number of layoffs cited did not come from the system, and he reiterated that the system does not actively fire faculty or staff. “Each university is empowered to make decisions, sometimes even the hardest decisions involved with personnel and faculty,” Pidgeon said.

According to a Slippery Rock University official, the layoffs will not affect SRU, but that official would give no further comment on the matter.

Pidgeon said the office of Chancellor Dan Greenstein in April released objectives to the universities related to financial sustainability.

“It was a projective look on how universities can stop relying on their reserves and how they can put themselves on a more solid financial foundation,” he said.

As part of the system redesign that has been underway since 2017, PASSHE has been calling on its universities to adjust faculty levels to meet current needs of enrollment, which has been on a downward trend.

System officials believe this correction will better the financial stability of institutions and reduce the financial burden on students.

According to Pidgeon, in 2009, the average system school's tuition was $6,800 less than a state school and $8,800 less than a private, four-year university.

He said that in 2017, the latest numbers released by the federal government, the average system school cost $2,000 less than a state school and $2,800 less than a private university.

“The urgency is now to recapture our affordability,” Pidgeon said. “We have a responsibility to our commonwealth and our students to do that.”

Last month, the SRU Council of Trustees approved a $179.1 million budget for fiscal year 2020-21 that included a deficit of $3.8 million, which was less than officials anticipated earlier in the year.

Like many other schools, SRU will use its reserves to pay for the deficit, which is largely being blamed on COVID-19.

In September, Molly Mercer, SRU's chief financial officer, said among other areas the university had slowed its hiring of nonessential faculty and staff and reallocated other core faculty members to expanded roles, abating the need for layoffs.

SRU also had favorable enrollment figures compared to others in the system with higher than expected graduate-level enrollment offsetting losses at the undergraduate level.

According to PASSHE data, SRU had 7,415 undergraduates and 1,461 graduates for a total of 8,876 students enrolled in the fall of 2020, 70 more than last year's total.

Bloomsburg (8,436), Clarion (4,465), East Stroudsburg (5,842), Edinboro (4,319), Indiana (10,067), Kutztown (7,892) and Millersville (7,495) universities of Pennsylvania all experienced lower enrollment.

Three universities were hit hardest by enrollment declines. East Stroudsburg decreased by 372 students, Millersville by 322 students and Kutztown by 307 students.

“In order to maintain and improve our affordability then, we've got some decisions to make,” Pidgeon said. “We support universities that are... putting themselves on solid financial foundations.”

The PASSHE Board of Governors will meet at 2 p.m. Wednesday and 9 a.m. Thursday, both of which are accessible online.