Colleges in Dire Financial Straits

[lightning]

Philadelphia School of the Arts fails

I would have never heard of this university, but a few years ago they rolled out a low-residency program called a PhD in Creativity. Uhh, ... yeah . . .

[TreadingLife]

University of Lynchburg cuts 17 programs, eliminates 40 staff member positions

The institution built its restructuring plan around enrollment. Of the 51 majors it offers, 70% of undergraduates are concentrated in eight programs, and 95% of students are in 21 programs.

https://foxbaltimore.com/news/nation-world/university-in-virginia-cuts-17-programs-eliminates-40-staff-member-positions-of-lynchburg-college-school-education-campus-learning-students-employees-undergraduates-programs-degrees-diploma-graduation?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3BE7EcuXGXvdeSCZvHRtjVoLR5BeG5S3fsMv4McXL_Vdxv6THW3TXY0E8_aem_AfRqM1ILfhUQ4uezNfMNg2-SZ3HzpU6n3KvebDwkbEu5M2ai0yCyBrlKhbBM0ASKQ2e4btHN9Y3khapWGtmnlM6J

[Hibush]

University of Lynchburg cuts 17 programs, eliminates 40 staff member positions

The institution built its restructuring plan around enrollment. Of the 51 majors it offers, 70% of undergraduates are concentrated in eight programs, and 95% of students are in 21 programs.

And 40 faculty positions cut. If the eliminated majors were as undersubscribed as the overall reports suggests, the faculty may have outnumbered the students. Then this is an appropriate, if overdue, adjustment to keep the curriculum and staffing where the students are.

[Hibush]

University of the Arts in Philadelphia announced today that it will close this Friday. That is swift! Proximal cause: loss of accreditation. It has 1150 students, 700 employees. An adjunct told the NY Times, "no one who worked there could possibly not know they've been in financial trouble."
(They also had a PhD in creativity, which lightning may have taken as an additional sign of dire financial straits.)

The faculty union reps were apparently more naive than the adjunct.

The union had just negotiated its first contract, which involved a close look at the university's books. Union president Daniel Pieczkolon said, "We were aware they were struggling financially but closure was never presented as a possibility. It's incredibly confusing."

That's a warning for those relying on a new union to be a solution.

[ciao_yall]

University of the Arts in Philadelphia announced today that it will close this Friday. That is swift! Proximal cause: loss of accreditation. It has 1150 students, 700 employees. An adjunct told the NY Times, "no one who worked there could possibly not know they've been in financial trouble."
(They also had a PhD in creativity, which lightning may have taken as an additional sign of dire financial straits.)

The faculty union reps were apparently more naive than the adjunct.

The union had just negotiated its first contract, which involved a close look at the university's books. Union president Daniel Pieczkolon said, "We were aware they were struggling financially but closure was never presented as a possibility. It's incredibly confusing."

That's a warning for those relying on a new union to be a solution.

The fact that the university didn't walk the union through the books as part of the negotiation is more on the university than the union.

[apl68]

Philadelphia School of the Arts fails

I would have never heard of this university, but a few years ago they rolled out a low-residency program called a PhD in Creativity. Uhh, ... yeah . . .

Art schools are just dropping like flies lately, aren't they?  Especially in that region--this comes hard on the heels of the announced closures of Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and Delaware College of Art and Design.  University of the Arts was supposed to have taken some of the orphaned students from these schools.  Now they've had another ship sunk out from under them.

I wonder how many art schools are left in this country?  And how many of them are in good enough shape to be safe to enroll in?

[apl68]

University of Lynchburg cuts 17 programs, eliminates 40 staff member positions

The institution built its restructuring plan around enrollment. Of the 51 majors it offers, 70% of undergraduates are concentrated in eight programs, and 95% of students are in 21 programs.

And 40 faculty positions cut. If the eliminated majors were as undersubscribed as the overall reports suggests, the faculty may have outnumbered the students. Then this is an appropriate, if overdue, adjustment to keep the curriculum and staffing where the students are.

Probably so.  It gets me that nobody can seem to keep a modern language program going anymore.  Not even in Spanish!  This in a nation with tens of millions of native Spanish speakers.

[secundem_artem]

Philadelphia School of the Arts fails

I would have never heard of this university, but a few years ago they rolled out a low-residency program called a PhD in Creativity. Uhh, ... yeah . . .

Wasn't this the place where Camille Paglia dwelled to annoy and offend us plebs?

[selecter]

She was indeed faculty there. I once interviewed there in a very near miss. Guess I was lucky.

[secundem_artem]

She was indeed faculty there. I once interviewed there in a very near miss. Guess I was lucky.

It appears she was the biggest fish in a vanishingly (and now vanished) pond.  Congrats on the near miss. 

[sinenomine]

I see that the University of the Arts cancelled their town hall yesterday, where they planned to answer questions about the closure, just minutes before it was scheduled to start. What a mess.

[selecter]

I don't remember seeing these super-last-minute closures until this year. Both Wells and UArts shut off like a faucet.

[apl68]

I don't remember seeing these super-last-minute closures until this year. Both Wells and UArts shut off like a faucet.

Wonder if faculty and staff have been left hanging without their final paychecks?  Those are the very worst kinds of abrupt closures.  Which is not to say that failing to give at least a semester or year's notice of closure isn't a bad thing.  You have to feel for those faculty members suddenly thrown onto the job market, and those students wondering where or whether they'll go to school next fall.  I can't even imagine the uncertainty.

[spork]

I don't remember seeing these super-last-minute closures until this year. Both Wells and UArts shut off like a faucet.

Years of wishful thinking + end of federal pandemic aid + FAFSA mess.

[apl68]

I don't remember seeing these super-last-minute closures until this year. Both Wells and UArts shut off like a faucet.

Years of wishful thinking + end of federal pandemic aid + FAFSA mess.

That makes sense.  A lot of institutions and agencies--not just universities--seemed convinced that the pandemic aid was something they'd be able to rely on forever.  That sort of thinking is said to be a major reason why the state of California was cheerfully talking only a few months ago about a record budget surplus that could purchase pie in the sky for the whole state, only to find that in fact they were looking at a record deficit.  And one can see how the FAFSA disaster could push an institution that was barely hanging on in terms of enrollment over the edge.