Colleges in Dire Financial Straits

[apl68]

Note that I'm NOT arguing for business as usual here.  It appears that the current situation of weaker campuses draining resources from more viable ones is unsustainable.  The question is, will they address the situation constructively, to restructure the threatened campuses to better meet the changed needs of the regions that they serve, or will they let them keep muddling through in decline until they're past saving?  Maybe they already are, but I'd rather let people closer to the scene who know more about it make that call.

A neighbouring city was created decades ago by the amalgamation of three smaller communities. Because of that history, the city has 5 high schools, each with less than  1000 students. Nearby cities have high schools that all have over 1500 students. These bigger schools can offer more courses, more extracurricular activities, etc. The school board would like to close at least one of those under 1000 student schools, but no-one wants it to be their school. So there is no way to change the situation, even though almost everyone would be better off.

A similar situation happens with elementary schools as demographic shifts reduce the student population in some areas.

Yes, our town went through some of that some years back.  As I mentioned on the "What Have You Been Reading" thread, in the 1950s the town had a master plan that involved setting up several neighborhood elementary schools.  It was the baby boom era, so every neighborhood had plenty of children.  Now our population is both smaller and older.  In recent decades most of those neighborhood schools have been consolidated out of existence.  At least one of the buildings is still in service as a youth center.  More recently, our middle school campus was consolidated out of service, with the grades divided among other schools.  Its building is now used for the local Boys' and Girls' Club.  Demographic decline forces tough choices.

[wareagle]

Note that I'm NOT arguing for business as usual here.  It appears that the current situation of weaker campuses draining resources from more viable ones is unsustainable.  The question is, will they address the situation constructively, to restructure the threatened campuses to better meet the changed needs of the regions that they serve, or will they let them keep muddling through in decline until they're past saving?  Maybe they already are, but I'd rather let people closer to the scene who know more about it make that call.

A neighbouring city was created decades ago by the amalgamation of three smaller communities. Because of that history, the city has 5 high schools, each with less than  1000 students. Nearby cities have high schools that all have over 1500 students. These bigger schools can offer more courses, more extracurricular activities, etc. The school board would like to close at least one of those under 1000 student schools, but no-one wants it to be their school. So there is no way to change the situation, even though almost everyone would be better off.

A similar situation happens with elementary schools as demographic shifts reduce the student population in some areas.

Yes, our town went through some of that some years back.  As I mentioned on the "What Have You Been Reading" thread, in the 1950s the town had a master plan that involved setting up several neighborhood elementary schools.  It was the baby boom era, so every neighborhood had plenty of children.  Now our population is both smaller and older.  In recent decades most of those neighborhood schools have been consolidated out of existence.  At least one of the buildings is still in service as a youth center.  More recently, our middle school campus was consolidated out of service, with the grades divided among other schools.  Its building is now used for the local Boys' and Girls' Club.  Demographic decline forces tough choices.

Let's hope those rural school buildings don't turn into Amazon fulfillment centers.

[apl68]

Note that I'm NOT arguing for business as usual here.  It appears that the current situation of weaker campuses draining resources from more viable ones is unsustainable.  The question is, will they address the situation constructively, to restructure the threatened campuses to better meet the changed needs of the regions that they serve, or will they let them keep muddling through in decline until they're past saving?  Maybe they already are, but I'd rather let people closer to the scene who know more about it make that call.

A neighbouring city was created decades ago by the amalgamation of three smaller communities. Because of that history, the city has 5 high schools, each with less than  1000 students. Nearby cities have high schools that all have over 1500 students. These bigger schools can offer more courses, more extracurricular activities, etc. The school board would like to close at least one of those under 1000 student schools, but no-one wants it to be their school. So there is no way to change the situation, even though almost everyone would be better off.

A similar situation happens with elementary schools as demographic shifts reduce the student population in some areas.

Yes, our town went through some of that some years back.  As I mentioned on the "What Have You Been Reading" thread, in the 1950s the town had a master plan that involved setting up several neighborhood elementary schools.  It was the baby boom era, so every neighborhood had plenty of children.  Now our population is both smaller and older.  In recent decades most of those neighborhood schools have been consolidated out of existence.  At least one of the buildings is still in service as a youth center.  More recently, our middle school campus was consolidated out of service, with the grades divided among other schools.  Its building is now used for the local Boys' and Girls' Club.  Demographic decline forces tough choices.

Let's hope those rural school buildings don't turn into Amazon fulfillment centers.

They're not that big....

There have been reports of one of them turning into a hangout for squatters.  I don't think there have been any there for a long time, though.

[polly_mer]

Let's hope those rural school buildings don't turn into Amazon fulfillment centers.

There's little danger of that because the fulfillment centers have to be in areas with enough population to be worth it both for delivery and for jobs.

There's a solid argument to be made for smaller schools.  However, nearly all that argument rests on a having a mixture of sizes and purposely choosing to have different sizes, not just being unwilling to look at resource allocation at the system level.  One of the few consolidation success stories is https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimer_College.  They kept the small, special mission, but leveraged overhead.

[spork]

American Jewish University:

https://www.jweekly.com/2021/04/06/american-jewish-university-seeks-partner-to-share-its-l-a-campus/.

Story mentioned in brief in IHE, which failed to note that according to its IRS Form 990s, AJU has been running deficits every year since 2015. Less than half of its revenue comes from program services; the budget depends on contributions and sales of assets.

[Hibush]

American Jewish University:

https://www.jweekly.com/2021/04/06/american-jewish-university-seeks-partner-to-share-its-l-a-campus/.

Story mentioned in brief in IHE, which failed to note that according to its IRS Form 990s, AJU has been running deficits every year since 2015. Less than half of its revenue comes from program services; the budget depends on contributions and sales of assets.

They discontinued the undergraduate program in 2018. That is a bad sign as well.

The campus is in Bel Air, California, suggesting that neighborhood kids would not need much in the way of financial aid.

[apl68]

Hope that their collections of rare books and documents are well taken care of.  Sounds like there would be a lot of cultural value there.

[polly_mer]

Western Oregon continues to discontinue programs and cut faculty positions https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/04/08/cuts-hit-faculty-philosophy-western-oregon

[polly_mer]

University of Oregon states they won't reduce faculty pay, hiring freeze and pay raise freeze remain in place: https://around.uoregon.edu/content/university-announces-elimination-pay-reduction-plan

[Durchlässigkeitsbeiwert]

University of Oregon states they won't reduce faculty pay, hiring freeze and pay raise freeze remain in place: https://around.uoregon.edu/content/university-announces-elimination-pay-reduction-plan

Original source linked within the article has quite telling statement by a faculty member:
"It really feels like a betrayal at a very deep level," Perlman said. "My job as a professor is to teach the students that are in my class. The administration's job is to get them to the university and put them in my class. I've been doing my part this whole time. The administration has been falling down on the task of keeping enrollment where it should be."

[Hibush]

University of Oregon states they won't reduce faculty pay, hiring freeze and pay raise freeze remain in place: https://around.uoregon.edu/content/university-announces-elimination-pay-reduction-plan

Original source linked within the article has quite telling statement by a faculty member:
"It really feels like a betrayal at a very deep level," Perlman said. "My job as a professor is to teach the students that are in my class. The administration's job is to get them to the university and put them in my class. I've been doing my part this whole time. The administration has been falling down on the task of keeping enrollment where it should be."

While the enrollment burp from 5 years ago is over, and it is the administration's job to manage that, the faculty do have a shared responsibility to attract people to their courses in addition to teaching them.

[Ruralguy]

By the way, AJU was a magnet for sizable donations from LA area bigwigs. But even so, its just not the sort of stuff that helps when students aren't interested in what you have to offer.  There's probably a lot of interest in the non-degree stuff, especially on-line courses during the pandemic, but I really doubt that's the kind of thing that can keep the doors open at a posh campus. Maybe they won't completely die, but they'll just  merge and merge and merge with other Jewish non-profits most likely, and just drift away from their mission, and  then quietly mostly die.

[Wahoo Redux]

University of Oregon states they won't reduce faculty pay, hiring freeze and pay raise freeze remain in place: https://around.uoregon.edu/content/university-announces-elimination-pay-reduction-plan

Original source linked within the article has quite telling statement by a faculty member:
"It really feels like a betrayal at a very deep level," Perlman said. "My job as a professor is to teach the students that are in my class. The administration's job is to get them to the university and put them in my class. I've been doing my part this whole time. The administration has been falling down on the task of keeping enrollment where it should be."

While the enrollment burp from 5 years ago is over, and it is the administration's job to manage that, the faculty do have a shared responsibility to attract people to their courses in addition to teaching them.

The blame-game provides a vent for frustration and anxiety, even when it is not deserved.

At the same time, admin are paid hefty salaries and presumably have worked their way up the ladder.  They should know how to do stuff.  There is only so much a faculty member can realistically do to attract students.  The standard wisdom is that faculty should produce works of great merit which will bring prestige to the university----but that is easier said than done, and I don't know if the kinds of things we do, generally speaking, would excite a lot of students.  Another university academic fair?  Sure, why not?  Meet with potential students if they come through?  Okay.

Still, the people in our development office are paid a lot more than I am.  I suspect it is the same at the U of O.

[Durchlässigkeitsbeiwert]

While the enrollment burp from 5 years ago is over, and it is the administration's job to manage that, the faculty do have a shared responsibility to attract people to their courses in addition to teaching them.

The blame-game provides a vent for frustration and anxiety, even when it is not deserved.

At the same time, admin are paid hefty salaries and presumably have worked their way up the ladder.  They should know how to do stuff.  There is only so much a faculty member can realistically do to attract students.  The standard wisdom is that faculty should produce works of great merit which will bring prestige to the university----but that is easier said than done, and I don't know if the kinds of things we do, generally speaking, would excite a lot of students.  Another university academic fair?  Sure, why not?  Meet with potential students if they come through?  Okay.

Still, the people in our development office are paid a lot more than I am.  I suspect it is the same at the U of O.

It is interesting how people focus on the different parts of the statement:
partially reasonable expectation for administrators to be working on increasing enrollment in the university overall Vs completely entitled demand to put students in the specific class.

[jimbogumbo]

More PASSHE: https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/04/08/union-survey-slams-pennsylvania-university-merger-plans