Layoffs hit Nebraska Alumni Association

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BY MELISSA LEE / Lincoln Journal Star

The Nebraska Alumni Association laid off seven full-time employees Wednesday as part of a continued restructuring effort after an audit of the association turned up questionable business practices by former Executive Director Ed Paquette.

The layoffs helped offset a $500,000 deficit faced by the Alumni Association, said interim Director Jim O’Hanlon. He wouldn’t comment on whether the shortfall was related to Paquette’s actions.

O’Hanlon wouldn’t name specific job titles of the employees affected, but said they worked in such areas as budget and finance, information technology and membership records. Before the layoffs, the association had 24 full-time employees.

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Ed Paquette

Ed Paquette

The laid-off workers will be paid through the end of the current fiscal year, O’Hanlon said, and the human resources staff will help them find new jobs.

To manage the rest of its shortfall, the Alumni Association plans to cut phone, travel, entertainment and other expenses.

“It’s a little here, a little there, and it all adds up,” O’Hanlon said.

The layoffs were difficult, he added. “People are very close here.”

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Harvey Perlman announced the association restructuring Friday. Among other changes, the association will no longer report to a 25-member volunteer board but to a seven-member executive committee that includes Perlman and NU Foundation President Clarey Castner or their designees.

Also, the NU Foundation will assume financial management of the association, ensuring more rigorous oversight of business transactions, Perlman said Friday. That transition meant the association needed fewer employees to handle financial work, which was a factor in the staff reduction, the university said.

The restructuring comes after Paquette’s departure in September as some association board members began to raise concerns about his financial decisions.

The board requested an audit, which revealed a number of questionable transactions by Paquette, including some without proper documentation. Among them were unexplained expenses by Paquette family members, Perlman has said.

Neither UNL nor the Alumni Association will discuss specifics.

Paquette did not return an e-mail message or a phone message left at his home in Lake Leelanau, Mich., Wednesday.

Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.