Staff layoffs product of collegewide budget issues - Lauren Kostiuk, Columbia Chronicle

More than 15 staff members of the college were notified May 31 that their positions had been eliminated due to budgetary constraints, despite no prior warning to the college's staff union. Nick Hoeppner, president of the United Staff of Columbia College union and an engineer in the Radio Department, said the dismissed staff members received emails asking them to attend meetings the same day to discuss departmental restructuring, at which they learned their positions were eliminated. “It is a disheartening trend that just seems to be the new norm here at Columbia that comes every May, people are going to be let go,” Hoeppner said. http://www.columbiachronicle.com/campus/article_c1e8de56-2c2f-11e6-8338-5f7c72843df8.html