Abilen Christian U faculty and staff layoffs with new budget alignment By: Jess Goodlett, KTAB

In an effort to reduce expenses for students, Abilene Christian University has announced a budget alignment plan that will result in a decline of faculty and staff positions. The focus of the budget is to lower ACU's overall expenses five to seven percent. This percentage drop equates to $7-8 million, which will allow ACU to keep the tuition rates affordable for students and lower the amount of student debt after graduation. “Achieving three major objectives – lowering student debt and the cost of delivering a quality higher education, while increasing affordability – creates unavoidable tension, especially in our budget,” said ACU President Dr. Phil Schubert. “We owe it to our students to excel at all three.” For faculty and staff, "the number of positions is in flux at this time because we are focused on reaching an overall financial target, not a specific number," according to a statement from ACU. http://www.bigcountryhomepage.com/news/main-news/acu-faculty-and-staff-layoffs-with-new-budget-alignment/866030318