Colleges in Dire Financial Straits

[spork]

Because the board of governors decided a few years ago that investment in D1 sports was the path to follow to the promised land.

[apl68]

More from Akron: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/07/16/budget-bloodbath-university-akron

Blowing over $200 million on athletic programs even as academics are gutted ought to be a scandal. 

On the other hand, it's hard to argue (per polly's point above) when enrollment has fallen by over a third that faculty can expect not to see their ranks thinned accordingly.

They're probably right when they say that saving the big money by cutting football and other big sports programs will cost them in terms of enrollment.  If administration's priorities seem out of whack, it's often because they're responding to out-of-whack priorities in the environment and culture that they have to work in.

[mamselle]

That defines the OSU-inflicted state "SportsRUs" model to a T.

It works in Columbus because of size, centrality, and a huge biochem/agronomic/medical-research machine behind the scenes.

But elsewhere the critical mass just isn't there to let sports appear to be "king" at the expense of other things.

There's too much of a "Buckeye-wannabe" mindset for the outrigger state schools to see truth.

(Transparecy: I was raised in OH and did my BA at OSU; I get back often because I still give papers with a couple of regional research groups, use the libraries, etc., as well as visiting my folks, and friends, when that was possible.)

M.

[jimbogumbo]

Here's a list of universities in Ohio. You can click on the city to see where they are located. Not hard to see why there are too many publics in Northern Ohio, not to even mention the tuition exchanges with some PA institutions to explain the enrollment drops. Without even trying I could name Toledo, Kent, Akron, Youngstown State, Cleveland State, Payne State and Malone competing for the same students.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colleges_and_universities_in_Ohio

[apl68]

Here's a list of universities in Ohio. You can click on the city to see where they are located. Not hard to see why there are too many publics in Northern Ohio, not to even mention the tuition exchanges with some PA institutions to explain the enrollment drops. Without even trying I could name Toledo, Kent, Akron, Youngstown State, Cleveland State, Payne State and Malone competing for the same students.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colleges_and_universities_in_Ohio

Good grief, they have nearly 100 institutions there!  About one for every 500 square miles or 110,000 people.  And three dozen of them are publics!

It really is hard to see how the state can sustain all of that infrastructure in an era of long-term decline in college-age, college-bound students.

[polly_mer]

They can't sustain that infrastructure as population declines.  That's been the looming crisis for years and the time of the greatest decrease in HS graduates is still a couple years out for many areas.

https://knocking.wiche.edu/nation-region-profile has interactive dashboards and links to the data WICHE been collecting for years.

[jimbogumbo]

Here's a list of universities in Ohio. You can click on the city to see where they are located. Not hard to see why there are too many publics in Northern Ohio, not to even mention the tuition exchanges with some PA institutions to explain the enrollment drops. Without even trying I could name Toledo, Kent, Akron, Youngstown State, Cleveland State, Payne State and Malone competing for the same students.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colleges_and_universities_in_Ohio

Good grief, they have nearly 100 institutions there!  About one for every 500 square miles or 110,000 people.  And three dozen of them are publics!

It really is hard to see how the state can sustain all of that infrastructure in an era of long-term decline in college-age, college-bound students.

Heh. Pennsylvania makes Ohio look like pikers. Spork and others have pointed at them with justification for years.

polly is absolutely right that we've known about the population issue for years. But, IMHO little can be done without widespread consolidation and closings of Publics.

[apl68]

Here's a list of universities in Ohio. You can click on the city to see where they are located. Not hard to see why there are too many publics in Northern Ohio, not to even mention the tuition exchanges with some PA institutions to explain the enrollment drops. Without even trying I could name Toledo, Kent, Akron, Youngstown State, Cleveland State, Payne State and Malone competing for the same students.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colleges_and_universities_in_Ohio

Good grief, they have nearly 100 institutions there!  About one for every 500 square miles or 110,000 people.  And three dozen of them are publics!

It really is hard to see how the state can sustain all of that infrastructure in an era of long-term decline in college-age, college-bound students.

Heh. Pennsylvania makes Ohio look like pikers. Spork and others have pointed at them with justification for years.

polly is absolutely right that we've known about the population issue for years. But, IMHO little can be done without widespread consolidation and closings of Publics.

Yes, they're surely going to have to thin their herd of public institutions.  Maybe not close campuses entirely, which would be extremely difficult politically, but definitely reduce them in status and funding.  Maybe they can somehow re-purpose some of them to soften the blow to local economies.  If they don't plan for a managed decline, they'll end up with a much messier one.

[Hibush]

More from Akron: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/07/16/budget-bloodbath-university-akron

Blowing over $200 million on athletic programs even as academics are gutted ought to be a scandal. 

On the other hand, it's hard to argue (per polly's point above) when enrollment has fallen by over a third that faculty can expect not to see their ranks thinned accordingly.

They're probably right when they say that saving the big money by cutting football and other big sports programs will cost them in terms of enrollment.  If administration's priorities seem out of whack, it's often because they're responding to out-of-whack priorities in the environment and culture that they have to work in.

Maybe they can cut all the majors except kinesiology and sports management and find a stable enrollment level that exactly matches their varsity rosters.

[mamselle]

With all my fussing, I should point out two things;

a) The main state schools, like OSU and its outriggers, are chartered land grant schools and many have agronomy, farm management, and crop breeding programs that are still relevant to the areas where they are found. The experimental corn fields are still (in part) across the road and up the pike from the main OSU stadium/field house/ice rink complex.

So they're not totally irrelevant to the populations they serve, even when those populations decide to return to farm life after taking their degrees. (Or go live in the Phillipines after doing a year in India and publishing his thesis on multiple cropping, as my first boyfriend did...).

b) The programs that focus on the humanities are strong and well-placed: the dance and music programs attract world-class instructors and produce performers who end up in globally-recognized companies and orchestras. We had dancers-in-residence in the 1970s from India, Africa, and the British Isles as well as teaching residencies by Tharp, Fagan, and Cunningham in dance; the art, music, and theater programs had similar input and output....and still do.

So the sports nonsense is hugely irritating but one can put one's fingers in one's ears and skate, dance, play, act, or sing as well as research, write, and teach in many fields.

c) The overstretched-to-meet-a-population-no-longer-there issue is definitely a problem, I'm not downplaying that.

But I wanted to be balanced in discussing the overall program's strengths and weaknesses.

M. 

[jimbogumbo]

More from Akron: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/07/16/budget-bloodbath-university-akron

Blowing over $200 million on athletic programs even as academics are gutted ought to be a scandal. 

On the other hand, it's hard to argue (per polly's point above) when enrollment has fallen by over a third that faculty can expect not to see their ranks thinned accordingly.

They're probably right when they say that saving the big money by cutting football and other big sports programs will cost them in terms of enrollment.  If administration's priorities seem out of whack, it's often because they're responding to out-of-whack priorities in the environment and culture that they have to work in.

Maybe they can cut all the majors except kinesiology and sports management and find a stable enrollment level that exactly matches their varsity rosters.

I think they are nearly there:

From 2018: U of Akron Cuts 80 Degree Tracks
From May 2020: U of Akron to close 6 of 11 colleges

[polly_mer]

b) The programs that focus on the humanities are strong and well-placed: the dance and music programs attract world-class instructors and produce performers who end up in globally-recognized companies and orchestras. We had dancers-in-residence in the 1970s from India, Africa, and the British Isles as well as teaching residencies by Tharp, Fagan, and Cunningham in dance; the art, music, and theater programs had similar input and output....and still do.

Will this still be true when the national competition for enough students in those programs becomes even fiercer?

If there are only N students nationally and J programs nationally, then some programs just won't get enough students when N/J gets to under a number around 50.  Having great faculty at all the programs for an even division of too few students doesn't work, but that's OK because the division nationally will not be even across all programs.

[Wahoo Redux]

Budget Cuts Render University of Akron's Football Program Increasingly Indefensible

[Cheerful]

From the IHE, 7/16 article:

"But Miller said Wednesday during a news conference that Akron's main competitor institutions have Division I programs, and that leaving the conference would have enrollment consequences.

LOL!  I know of Division I schools where hardly any students attend the games.

[dr_codex]

Piling on...

https://www.beaconjournal.com/news/20191123/bob-dyer-university-of-akron-football-is-invisible

Any place adjusting basic things like the academic work week because of football deserves to go under.

I feel bad for anybody trying to hold down an academic job there.