The Geology Dept. at Northern Arizona University is being merged with the Center for Sustainable Environments into the School of Earth Sciences and Sustainable Environments, as part of budget cutting efforts.
NAU announced that to meet a $6.3 million reduction about 4 staff and about 5 non-tenure-track faculty will be laid off or non-renewed for the next fiscal year, 4 staff members will see partial layoffs.
A university-wide hiring freeze has left about 100 positions unfilled for the coming year -- about half in academic programs.
The layoffs and freeze mean there will be more than 150 fewer employees at NAU this coming fall than last. The university employs about 2,700 full and part-time workers, covering Flagstaff and remote sites.