The University began distributing non-renewal notices notifying non-tenured employees of their termination as of Jan. 21, 2011. University spokesman Herb Vincent said it’s likely all non-tenure and non-tenure track faculty will eventually receive the non-renewal notifications, which are being sent out in phases. The University has 484 faculty who are non-tenure track employees, according to a University news release. The letters effectively end faculty employment in a year’s time, but last week Chancellor Michael Martin said no final decisions will be made regarding layoffs until the University knows what the next budget cut will be. ‘To ensure we have maximum flexibility to face whatever we may have to face, it was necessary to inform those people that there is a possibility of some job loss,’ Martin said. ‘On one hand, we are letting everyone know there are budget challenges we have to meet, and it may come to that. On the other hand, we are going to do our best not to have to exercise those layoffs.’ Joni Catanzaro, ISDS instructor, said she is preparing to not have a job next year. ‘The letter is quite clear that I will not be reappointed,’ Catanzaro said. ‘But the department head and dean are doing what they can to save us.’ On the same day the notices were sent, University instructors began a petition with the goal of revising tax policies to mitigate budget crisis and amending the state constitution to make higher education less susceptible to state budget pain. Tania Nyman, English instructor, started the petition through the Facebook group ‘Save LSU.’ This weekend, Nyman’s push for signatures extended from the Parade Ground on Friday to the Superdome before the NFC championship game on Sunday. The petition began on the same day the notices were sent, but Nyman insists her efforts have nothing to do with her job. University alumna Cindy Michael is considering returning to the University for graduate school but said she will go out of state if the University suffers another major cut. Michael signed the petition Friday, calling it a catalyst for solving the budget crisis. ‘The state has been chipping away at higher education and health care for years, but this is the time to change that,’ Michael said. Nyman said she is in the process of organizing a protest at the state Capitol in the near future. — Contact Xerxes A. Wilson at [email protected]