SMU Meadows Marketing & Communications
As part of its severance package, SMU is legally required to provide individuals 40 years of age and older with certain information about the reduction in force and reorganization, including the job titles and ages of those selected and not selected for the layoffs. The information SMU provides is not personally identifying, and recipients of the information are required to keep it strictly confidential.
In order to respect the privacy and dignity of our community members in affected positions throughout their transition, we will not be posting or sharing lists of names publicly. In the days that follow notifications in your area, your vice president or dean will be sharing a new organizational structure that will help clarify roles going forward, and if you have any additional questions, your dean or vice president will have the best information.
If an employee’s position is eliminated, he or she will be eligible to receive the severance package, regardless of his or her eligibility for retirement. The decision to retire is separate and does not affect receipt of the standard outplacement compensation and benefits. If you are interested in retiring from SMU, more information can be found here: http://www.smu.edu/BusinessFinance/HR/Retirement.
Final approval of the University’s organizational design plan was given on January 12, 2015. Since then, HR has been working with senior leaders to arrange conversations as quickly as possible. A great deal of care and effort is put into preparing for these meetings in order to share complete information with affected employees when they are notified about their positions. Notification meetings are designed to not only share a high level of detail, but provide answers to employees’ questions, and therefore take more time.
During the diagnostic phase of the OE2C project, our research revealed that our most efficient and effective peers in higher education utilize flattened and less hierarchical organizational structures, with fewer “layers” and larger “spans.”
“Layers” refers to the number of management layers between the President and the front line employees who serve our students, faculty and staff. Reducing layers allows for faster, streamlined decision-making and less bureaucracy in performing work.