Colleges in Dire Financial Straits

[Parasaurolophus]

William Patterson University is in a world of hurt.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/12/20/william-paterson-plans-lay-100-full-time-professors

40% of FT faculty over three years is 0_o.

I have a friend there who just went on parental leave. I hope they have something to come back to.

[apl68]

William Patterson University is in a world of hurt.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/12/20/william-paterson-plans-lay-100-full-time-professors

Interesting to note that they've had tens of millions of dollars' worth of new facilities in the past decade, even as enrollment has gone nowhere but down.  Looks like an example of the state giving a state-supported university lots of pork-barrel funding for construction, yet not being willing to support academics.  The public-institution equivalent of those private schools that only get large donations for the purpose of building new stuff, not for keeping the place running.

[Wahoo Redux]

William Patterson University is in a world of hurt.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/12/20/william-paterson-plans-lay-100-full-time-professors

Interesting to note that they've had tens of millions of dollars' worth of new facilities in the past decade, even as enrollment has gone nowhere but down.  Looks like an example of the state giving a state-supported university lots of pork-barrel funding for construction, yet not being willing to support academics.  The public-institution equivalent of those private schools that only get large donations for the purpose of building new stuff, not for keeping the place running.

Our last uni built new dorms while we were there and instituted a wage freeze.  Their enrollment is now down by almost 3% and they just fired their first tenured prof.

Our current uni has reportedly gained millions in a capital campaign and they have laid off more than half our support staff, several profs, done retirement buyouts on a number more, let lines die, and dropped a dozen majors.

[apl68]

Pooor, pooor, pooooor St. Sebastian: those kids are being soooo mean....

A follow-up:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJoLjCCumaA

M.

I'd never even heard of this place before!  Sounds like either an outright fraud or (just possibly) the work of some enthusiasts who had absolutely no idea what they were doing.  Either way, you have to feel for the students who have gotten caught up in it.  At least there weren't all that many of them.

[mamselle]

Pooor, pooor, pooooor St. Sebastian: those kids are being soooo mean....

A follow-up:

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJoLjCCumaA

M.

I'd never even heard of this place before!  Sounds like either an outright fraud or (just possibly) the work of some enthusiasts who had absolutely no idea what they were doing.  Either way, you have to feel for the students who have gotten caught up in it.  At least there weren't all that many of them.

Agreed; I have to say fraud.

Why else would you 'borrow' the address of a local community center for your letterhead address without asking them first if it's OK to do so...?

M.

[Wahoo Redux]

IHE: Fewer Graduates Go Straight to College

[seibaatgung]

Does anyone have a list of law schools that have shut down recently?  Law school is quite a bit less necessary than undergrad. 

[apl68]

The Chancellor of Henderson State University, having managed to paper over shortfalls using stimulus money, is now proposing a declaration of financial exigency.  From a communication to all faculty and staff:

The reasons for this proposal are many. If we do not immediately change course, we currently project HSU will
incur a cash shortfall of $12.5 million between now and June 30, 2022, which means that we will be unable to
service our debts, pay our bills and have sufficient funds for payroll. The current projections beyond June 30,
absent significant changes, are even more grim. Our current budget includes $6 million from the federal Higher
Education Emergency Relief Fund, and unfortunately those funds will not be available for the 2022-2023 school
year. Our current long-term debt has grown from $14 million to $78 million, requiring annual debt service
payments of $6.9 million. We have no funds available in financial reserves, including a $6 million loan from the
State of Arkansas.

Effective on February 28, 2022, each employee on our campus, with the exception of those who are not funded
by state funds, will have to take one furlough day per week. We are also implementing immediate salary
reductions for certain academic administrators on our campus. As we attempt to redefine the scope and role of
HSU as an institution of higher education, we are going to make changes to our management structure to ensure
that our resources are allocated appropriately. Sadly, this process will ultimately involve program elimination
and a reallocation of resources into the programs that best serve our students and community. The level of
permanent reduction in our overall annual expenditures for FY 2023 and beyond will be significant. With
today's proposal, that process will begin, and I look forward to working with the Faculty Senate and the campus
leadership to expeditiously move this process forward.

https://arkadelphian.com/2022/02/03/henderson-announces-furloughs/


I imagine the programs that they eliminate will end up being the usual suspects.  HSU will in all likelihood go from being the state's sole public liberal arts college to just another compass-point school with a handful of vocational majors.  Very sad to see.  I never went there, but I have connections there and remember what it used to be like.

[Wahoo Redux]

I was just talking to a prof on Reddit about a 20% reduction in hu's salary based on "one day a week furloughs."

Obviously this person was not happy.

I suggested doing 20% less work.

I love the "I look forward to working with the Faculty Senate and the campus
leadership to expeditiously move this process forward" statement.  I guess admin have to make statements such as this, tone deafness and all.

[Hibush]

I was just talking to a prof on Reddit about a 20% reduction in hu's salary based on "one day a week furloughs."

Obviously this person was not happy.

I suggested doing 20% less work.

I love the "I look forward to working with the Faculty Senate and the campus
leadership to expeditiously move this process forward" statement.  I guess admin have to make statements such as this, tone deafness and all.

The only effective remedy is to find that the Faculty Senate cannot achive a quorum because too many Senators are now working elsewhere for considerably better pay.

[lightning]

I was just talking to a prof on Reddit about a 20% reduction in hu's salary based on "one day a week furloughs."

Obviously this person was not happy.

I suggested doing 20% less work.

I love the "I look forward to working with the Faculty Senate and the campus
leadership to expeditiously move this process forward" statement.  I guess admin have to make statements such as this, tone deafness and all.

The only effective remedy is to find that the Faculty Senate cannot achive a quorum because too many Senators are now working elsewhere for considerably better pay.

The senators will be moonlighting at their side hustle.

[clean]

I hope that HSU can resolve the issues.  AS bad as a 20% pay cut would be, it is certainly better than a 100% pay cut.  Certainly, some will soon be suffering the 100% pay cut anyway.   

[marshwiggle]

I was just talking to a prof on Reddit about a 20% reduction in hu's salary based on "one day a week furloughs."

Obviously this person was not happy.

I suggested doing 20% less work.

Wouldn't the "one day a week furlough" basically imply that faculty aren't working one day a week; i.e. they wouldn't be able to teach, attend meetings, have office hours, etc.?

At the very least scheduling would have to be done so that everyone has a day with no presence on campus, in-person or virtual, required or expected.

[Hibush]

I hope that HSU can resolve the issues.  AS bad as a 20% pay cut would be, it is certainly better than a 100% pay cut.  Certainly, some will soon be suffering the 100% pay cut anyway.

The message from administration makes it clear that the reduction after June 30 will be significantly larger. They are beyond "financial exigency."

The letter is also unambiguous about cutting programs that are not making money. Any faculty who suspect they are in such a program should be getting out now. Never mind working 20% less, the focus should be on finding employment even if that means cutting the actual effort by a lot more than 20%.

With the current--but fleetingly--strong job market, the good jobs will not teaching in undersubscibed majors elsewhere. That seems to be a constraint that people place on themselves that creates unneccessary hardship.

[pondering]

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State is imposing huge cuts on all its departments - up to 25% in some cases: https://www.inside.iastate.edu/article/2022/02/24/lasbudget

For the effects on the History Department, see this thread: https://twitter.com/HistoryBrian/status/1502303314960072708