Georgetown University plans to restructure its internal information technology (IT) department by June 1, potentially threatening dozens of employees’ jobs, according to several interviews with employees and documents reviewed by The Hoya. 

University Information Systems (UIS), which was initially structured to maintain local hardware such as physical servers, has not been overhauled in decades, according to multiple UIS employees. At a Feb. 10 meeting, university administrators informed all 150 UIS employees that their positions will fall into one of three categories: no change, updated or repurposed — with the latter designation forcing current staff members to reapply for new jobs due to university policy.

In communications with employees about the restructuring, UIS administrators cited the need to adapt to internet and cloud-based technologies as well as offering more customer support. UIS employees in the “repurposed” category will either start their new roles, if rehired, or be formally laid off by June 1. 

According to two UIS employees, 30 staff members — about a fifth of the department — have had their jobs repurposed. The Hoya counted at least 32 UIS and information technology (IT) positions posted on or after Feb. 10 on the university’s careers page.

The Hoya spoke with five UIS employees and reviewed communications between university officials and UIS staff to understand the impact and extent of the restructuring. All five of the employees requested anonymity for fear of professional retaliation, as many will be reapplying for their jobs.

A UIS employee, whose position was repurposed after many years at Georgetown, said changes at UIS could mean losing their job and struggling to afford basic necessities. 

“I’m used to having a paycheck,” the employee told The Hoya. “I’m used to having money coming in that allows me to pay for anything and everything, and all of a sudden, out of the blue, that’s going to stop and that’s quite a gut punch.”

“It means I won’t have any income,” the employee added.

A university spokesperson confirmed the restructuring and said the overhaul is intended to help UIS adapt to current and emerging technologies, which have moved away from on-site hardware systems in recent years.

“Previously, the university relied upon technology which was predominantly on-premise, physically located on our campus, and is now outdated,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. “UIS’s traditional service model and organizational structure no longer matches the current technology landscape or the university’s needs.”

UIS provides technological support to students, faculty and staff while managing the university’s digital services and internal administrative systems. For the last decade, UIS has facilitated the university’s transition to cloud-based technologies including digital platforms and Google applications.

J. H. Verkerke, the director of the program for employment and labor law studies at the University of Virginia School of Law, said restructuring is a common reason for layoffs. 

“In general, restructuring, in cases of changing needs, is usually considered to be a legitimate business justification for termination,” Verkerke told The Hoya.

The changes are not related to the university’s ongoing financial challenges and have been in the works for over a year, according to the university spokesperson and documents sent to staff members. The same document also outlines that UIS does not plan to downsize or minimize costs.

Another UIS employee said they worry about their colleagues’ future at UIS despite their position remaining unchanged. 

“I feel very unstable and uncertain about my future, my team’s future,” the employee told The Hoya. “I’m not sure how many of them may leave and what things are going to look like in the next six months.” 

A third UIS employee, whose role is unchanged, said they support UIS’ goal of making the department run more efficiently for students and faculty. 

“Operational expenses are all tuition-based, and I don’t want to waste people’s money,” the employee told The Hoya. “We need to be responsible stewards of that tuition money. So if because of how structured, if it leads to inefficiencies, then we’re not being responsible stewards.” 

A fourth employee, a long-time Georgetown employee who will have to reapply, said they were shocked by the announcement.

“This is just like a kick in the face,” the employee told The Hoya. “Now I gotta reapply to other companies and this and that. What am I gonna do now?” 

Positions are considered “repurposed” if more than half of the description and responsibilities have changed, requiring a new job search due to the university’s human resources (HR) reclassification policy. UIS posted the restructured jobs on its career website Feb. 10, which administrators have advertised on social media. 

A fifth employee, whose position was repurposed and intends to retire early rather than reapply, said the majority of his position’s duties will remain the same despite the recategorization. 

“The job they posted on the internet, this is the exact job that I do,” the employee told The Hoya. “I just said to my managers and my director, ‘I’m not going to reapply for the same job I’ve been doing for 15 years.’”

Following the Feb. 10 announcement, the second employee said their communication with administrators has not provided clarity about the future of UIS. 

“When we met with our new associate vice president, it didn’t seem like there was a lot of value placed on people as people, but more so as resources that would do the things that they need to get done,” the employee said.

In a UIS all-staff meeting on Feb. 19, university administrators did not address the restructuring or offer time to answer questions about the changes, according to a recording reviewed by The Hoya. 

The fourth employee said they hope to continue working at Georgetown, despite not agreeing with the administration’s recent treatment of UIS staff. 

“If I get the job back at Georgetown University I’ll continue to work there. To me it’s about making money,” the employee wrote to The Hoya. “Yeah they are treating us UIS staff like garbage, but it’s about having a job to make money.”

The fifth employee said that prior to this overhaul, UIS felt like a family. 

“It does feel like they take care of you like extended family,” the employee said. “As far as the way they treated employees through COVID and things like that. They paid everyone and didn’t lay anyone off, so that was awesome. But it’s been a great place to work.”

That employee added that they think the university is ready for change. 

“They seem like they’re ready for some of the people who’ve been there 20-plus years, they’re ready to rip off the band aid and start over with some new people who doesn’t know the infrastructure, doesn’t know the history of Georgetown and how things work,” the employee said. “They’re ready to start over with just a younger generation.” 

Other schools — including Harvard University and Carnegie Mellon University — have conducted mass layoffs of IT professionals this academic year, though many cited financial challenges.

The first employee said the university should offer current UIS employees the opportunity to adapt to new technologies before being repurposed. 

“Nothing in technology has changed to the point that there’s no reason to expect that we can’t adapt with the change,” the employee said. “And after several years, it’s completely unacceptable to assume that I’m not able to adapt, whatever the expectation.”

Still, the third employee, whose position will not change, said they largely support reforming UIS despite the large changes.

“Since I pretty much agree with what they’re trying to do, I can forgive them for doing it the way that they did,” the employee said.

The first employee said restructuring UIS contradicts the university’s Jesuit values. 

“Georgetown, as a Jesuit university, I don’t think Jesus would lead this way,” the employee said.