Sep 16, 2014 1 min read

CALIFORNIA – California University of Pennsylvania will eliminate 30 jobs at a time when its enrollment has fallen, interim Cal U. President Geraldine M. Jones announced Tuesday.

Sixteen nonfaculty employees will be furloughed, while another 14 positions, including a few faculty members, will be eliminated through attrition, Cal U. spokeswoman Christine Kindl said. An official announcement is planned Wednesday.

“The president discussed personnel costs that have risen dramatically in the past year, and the need to align the workforce with our budget and needs,” Kindl said.

The 16 furloughs represent 1.8 percent of Cal U.’s total workforce, she said.

Enrollment this fall dropped by 3.2 percent as compared with last year, she said.

Cal U.’s enrollment is just below 8,000 students. The university had a 14-year streak of consecutive enrollment growth that ended in 2011, when it had a record-setting 9,483 students on campus.

Kindl said a baby boom has ended, leaving high schools across the country with smaller graduating classes. She said trend is especially the case in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

She said the university also is competing for students with the booming Marcellus shale industry, which offers good-paying jobs to new high school graduates.