An error resulted in many Department of Residence student employees mistakenly being told they had lost their jobs.

Of the 35 students who received a letter they would be released from their positions, 21 have been told the letter was a mistake and they are not fired.

“Some people were accidentally sent a letter,” said Kate Bruns, communication specialist with the Department of Residence.

Bruns said cutting positions and students was the last thing the department wanted to do.

It was only considered after doing a number of other cuts, and student cuts came before any full-time employee layoffs.

Some students, such as Katrina Watson, have not been told their letters were sent by mistake.

“I had no idea I would receive the `you’re fired’ letter,” said Watson, senior in journalism and mass communication. “The only rumor I heard prior to being laid off was it was being considered that some full-time staff would be laid off.”

Watson, who worked as a student dispatcher at the Service Center, said some of her co-workers have been able to keep their positions.

“Some . were only hired last fall. I started a year-and-a-half ago,” she said.

Bruns said all of the firings were made due to budgetary concerns.

Finding a part-time job will be extremely difficult, Watson said, since she’ll be graduating in August.

“I need to pay bills, but most employers want someone that will be there for a while,” she said.

“In my situation, I am a student worker and thus am of no importance to the Department of Residence.”