Colleges in Dire Financial Straits

[Ruralguy]

I cant defend this ratio for any particular school, other than to say that at my school, if you subtract off externally contracted staff, facilities workers that arent managers, and AAs that dont manage, then were at about 1:1. Keep in mind that a lof this staff manages students,athletics,  money, facilities, etc. and not faculty. We are pretty independent at my school, with most pesky interferemce coming from 1 dean and a couple of deanettes, and about 75 percent of their jobs, maybe nore, is more heplful to us than it is hurtful or just ridiculous fluff. Also, some staff is mandated due to Title IX, accreditation, etc..

[spork]

The Waynesburg University (PA). Multimillion dollar deficits from 2016 through 2020. Deficit of $80K and surplus of $500K in 2021 and 2022, respectively, on ~ $60 million in annual expenses because of federal pandemic aid. 

[sonoamused]

Northwestern College outside of Chicago closed; and seems to have left students in a bit of sudden lurch.
https://abc7chicago.com/post/northwestern-college-students-unsure-get-money-back-credits/15043604/

[kaysixteen]

I gottsta say it again-- who exactly out there is there who gets to oversee what happens to the campus assets of colleges that shutter, esp suddenly?

[dismalist]

I gottsta say it again-- who exactly out there is there who gets to oversee what happens to the campus assets of colleges that shutter, esp suddenly?

Nay, nay, nay: Who exactly is out there who oversees the campus assets before they shutter?

Boards got no skin in the game.

[kaysixteen]

There certainly could be financial shenanigans going on in the last days of a campus, yes, but once dead, the physical assets remain, and, well, say in the case of Eastern Nazarene College we read about last week, many of these places have campi that could be sold for many times the value of any outstanding debt the school might have.  It really makes me wonder, for instance, personally knowing the ENC campus, just how much the total physical evaluation price might actually be.

[apl68]

Dickinson State University cut several faculty and programs, and imposed strict new minimum requirements for teaching hours and minimum class sizes.  The faculty of the nursing program pointed out that the minimums put their program's accreditation in danger, since training nurses is a labor-intensive business, and accreditation standards have low caps for the number of students that one nursing faculty member can supervise.  University President Stephen Easton wouldn't cut them any slack.  So the entire faculty of the nursing department, presumably knowing they could go anywhere else they wanted and get hired, resigned in one fell swoop in protest:

https://www.inforum.com/news/north-dakota/entire-faculty-of-dickinson-state-university-nursing-program-resigns

Now Easton is resigning in an admission of defeat, and it looks like the nursing faculty will be re-hired, if they still want their old jobs:

https://www.highereddive.com/news/dickinson-state-steve-easton-resigns-nursing/721513/


Goes to show who has the clout in academia.  You can lay off humanities profs by the score, and subject any who have been spared to the harshest conditions.  But try that with nursing faculty, and they'll squash you like a bug!

[Mobius]

In the end, the president is probably right regarding finances. A school like that isn't top heavy with admins.

[spork]

Not dire because it's public, but UNC-Asheville has no market:

https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2024/07/unc-asheville-should-start-over/.

[Mobius]

I looked it up and there are 3 NCAA public D1 institutions that have smaller enrollment numbers and they are all HBCUs in the MEAC.

[onehappyunicorn]

Not dire because it's public, but UNC-Asheville has no market:

https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2024/07/unc-asheville-should-start-over/.

As someone who worked at a CC in the UNC system for a while I'm not shocked. We had some 4 year institutions who really wanted to work with us (UNCC and UNCG for example) and some that basically let us know that they didn't want our students. UNC Asheville was one of them, over my 11 years I know only one student who transferred there from our program. I never saw any attempt at recruiting in all my time at my institution. Maybe other programs at UNC Asheville weren't as insular but that is definitely the vibe that I got from the college as a whole.

We know that a student usually can't do a 2+2 when transferring, it usually takes an additional semester to complete the degree. UNC Asheville had a policy where students could only submit work completed at UNC Ashville for their BFA portfolio. Any student transferring in would have to spend an additional year just to get work together for admission to the BFA program, so the 2+2.5 turned into 2+3.5 at minimum. We had an art foundations conference back sometime around 2018 where a faculty from UNCA told all of community colleges in attendance that they didn't care that it took an additional year for the student.

I imagine it doesn't help that Asheville has gentrified greatly over the last 10-15 years. It's become completely unaffordable for most people and retirees have bought up a lot of the housing there.

[spork]

[...]

I imagine it doesn't help that Asheville has gentrified greatly over the last 10-15 years. It's become completely unaffordable for most people and retirees have bought up a lot of the housing there.

I lived/worked in western NC more than 15 years ago. Asheville and environs was gentrifying with retirees even then. I don't see a bright future for the small private colleges in the area. Brevard College had an FTE enrollment of only ~ 750 two years ago. Warren Wilson was at 820. Guilford was at 1,250. And as for UNCA, it has no rational reason to exist as part of the UNC system, being geographically situated between WCU and ASU.

[spork]

Not dire because it's public, but UNC-Asheville has no market:

https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2024/07/unc-asheville-should-start-over/.

As someone who worked at a CC in the UNC system for a while I'm not shocked. We had some 4 year institutions who really wanted to work with us (UNCC and UNCG for example) and some that basically let us know that they didn't want our students. UNC Asheville was one of them, over my 11 years I know only one student who transferred there from our program. I never saw any attempt at recruiting in all my time at my institution. Maybe other programs at UNC Asheville weren't as insular but that is definitely the vibe that I got from the college as a whole.

We know that a student usually can't do a 2+2 when transferring, it usually takes an additional semester to complete the degree. UNC Asheville had a policy where students could only submit work completed at UNC Ashville for their BFA portfolio. Any student transferring in would have to spend an additional year just to get work together for admission to the BFA program, so the 2+2.5 turned into 2+3.5 at minimum. We had an art foundations conference back sometime around 2018 where a faculty from UNCA told all of community colleges in attendance that they didn't care that it took an additional year for the student.

I imagine it doesn't help that Asheville has gentrified greatly over the last 10-15 years. It's become completely unaffordable for most people and retirees have bought up a lot of the housing there.

UNCA is spending $4 million on new tennis courts.

[Hibush]

UNCA is spending $4 million on new tennis courts.

Of course they are. The upside is that it will make the campus more marketable as a resort or retreat center.

[bio-nonymous]

UNC has a situation where the compass point campuses are losing enrollment but the two flagships (UNC-CH and NC State) are gaining enrollment, despite the "demographic cliff". It is very easy for the big two to cannabalize the rest of the system by simply lowering admission standards SLIGHTLY or just opening more seats for some programs. This last part is of course just "speculation" on my part...