No Layoffs At USF Poly For At Least A Year

John O'Connor / StateImpact Florida

USF President Judy Genshaft and Lakeland state Rep. Seth McKeel say there will be no layoffs at USF Poly for at least one year.

The University of South Florida may be closing its Lakeland campus, but those employees will have jobs for at least another year.

That’s according to USF president Judy Genshaft, who says employees will stay on staff until at least July 1, 2013.  Some employees left a meeting last week worried they may lose their jobs as early as July 1 of this year.

USF Poly is closing its Lakeland campus as the school is transferring its land and buildings to create Florida Polytechnic University.

Genshaft says some Poly staff will stay in Lakeland, while others could move to another campus. The school will spend the next year analyzing its needs and the available staff.

“We will have transitions  —  I don’t want to make any promises right now,” Genshaft says. “And whether they be here or whether they be in Tampa, we will make sure that everybody is taken care of.”

Genshaft says she met with USF Poly staff on Monday afternoon to clear up their concerns.

State Rep. Seth McKeel says there are no concerns about the cost of transferring staff to other campuses.

Lawmakers budgeted $10 million for a transition estimated to cost $18 million. But McKeel says the Florida Polytechnic legislation promises to pay for any additional costs from money in the new university’s budget.