The entire Keller Center staff will be laid off due to a restructuring of the center amid ongoing University-wide “budget constraints,” according to an email obtained by The Daily Princetonian. This change is resulting in nine layoffs.
The wholesale layoff of the staff of an academic unit is unprecedented at Princeton in recent years. Faculty in the Keller Center are not “immediately” affected by the layoffs, according to the email.
University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 announced in February that the University will implement multi-year budget cuts due to lower projected endowment returns. The University has since cut employee benefits and scaled back salary increases across the board, amid other fiscal tightening measures.
The Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education, according to its website, is focused on creating “societal impact through entrepreneurship, design, and innovative education.” It is housed within the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS).
In a March 5 email announcing the layoffs to Keller Center-affiliated faculty, SEAS dean Andrew Houck ’00 described the change as a “very difficult decision” that will ensure the Center’s “long-term financial stability and strategic growth.” The layoffs will be effective two months after the announcement.
Director of the Keller Center Sigrid Adriaenssens and Associate Director Janet Vertesi will retain their leadership positions at the center. Adriaenssens is a professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Vertesi is an associate professor of sociology.
The email from Houck stated that those laid off will have the opportunity to apply for new positions at the center. In a statement to the ‘Prince,’ University spokesperson Jennifer Morrill wrote that there were four new positions created within the Keller Center to which the laid-off employees will have the opportunity to apply.
The University has publicly posted three of these positions on its job listings: an executive director, an undergraduate administrator, and a communications and events specialist.
There is no open listing for the fourth position at time of publication. According to Morrill, the position is manager of finance and administration at the Center. Morrill wrote that there is also a new engineering dean’s staff position available.
Multiple Keller Center staff and faculty declined to comment or referred the ‘Prince’ to the Office of Communications.
“The School of Engineering remains committed to the Keller Center’s critical mission of interdisciplinary education in entrepreneurship, design, and societal impact,” Houck wrote in the email.
The Center’s future plans will be done in consultation with “faculty and staff task forces” who help guide the center “in the current budgetary environment,” Houck continued.
The email stated that this decision was not rooted in any “dissatisfaction with the Center’s talented and hard-working staff.”
“I share your deep appreciation and concern for our affected colleagues. Please be assured that the School and University will carefully support Keller Center staff through this difficult transition,” the email concluded. “Your teaching and mentoring are key to the Center’s continued success and I am grateful for your dedication to the Center’s work and to our students.”
As of now, faculty positions and course offerings are not affected by the restructuring, and the minors in entrepreneurship and technology and society will continue to be offered.
Luke Grippo is a head News editor for the ‘Prince.’ He is from South Jersey, and typically covers high-profile interviews and University and town politics. He can be reached at luke.grippo[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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