Wittenberg retirees meet with university about cuts

Oct. 21--SPRINGFIELD -- Wittenberg University retirees met on campus Tuesday to hear the school's reasoning behind its planned elimination of health and life insurance benefits.

Some retirees had expressed frustration that school leaders did not notify them of the cuts before news broke last week.

Susan Smith, who worked as a data entry clerk at Wittenberg for 30 years, said she felt disrespected by the way retirees were informed.

"It hurt that the years that I've put in didn't amount to anything," she said.

More than 200 retirees and spouses are affected by the cuts, according to data from Wittenberg. Those people were paying $42 a month for health insurance.

Wittenberg announced Oct. 14 a plan to cut $6.5 million from its budget to avoid a projected structural deficit of that amount at the end of this fiscal year and a $5.5 million deficit next year, President Laurie Joyner said. The university expects to save $1.7 million by cutting retiree insurance benefits.

Those cuts will come from a combination of eliminating retiree benefits, changing current employee benefits, refinancing the institution's current debt, and reviewing administrative positions, academic programs and contracts, university officials said.

Wittenberg sent emails announcing the cuts to retirees Thursday and mailed letters Friday.

More than 50 retirees and spouses attended Tuesday's meeting, Smith said, and the atmosphere was tense.

Many of the retirees understand changes to health insurance benefits are common in the current economic and business landscape, but were still upset at the lack of notice, she added.

In a written statement, Wittenberg Vice President for Finance and Administration Randal Freebourn said the university is committed to helping retirees find new insurance options.

"We know that Wittenberg grew to be the great university it is today because of the dedication of our retirees and we are confronting these difficult financial decisions head-on," he said.

United Senior Services will hold a meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at its offices, 101 S. Fountain Ave., to provide information about the different Medicare and private insurance options available for retirees. Anyone with questions can call USS at 937-323-4948.

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