Colleges in Dire Financial Straits

[apl68]

Bethune Cookman University:

https://hbcugameday.com/2021/07/17/sources-massive-admin-change-at-bethune-cookman/.

Highest salaried employees as of filing of the FY 2020 990:

LYNN THOMPSON (VP INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS)   $303,978
DR E LABRENT CHRITE (PRESIDENT (BEG. 07/2019))   $269,593
TERRY E SIMS (HEAD COACH)   $218,644

The school has been in deficit every year since 2014. It's got a track record of being a cesspool of fraud and embezzlement.

Those salaries are outrageous for a school no larger than that, with no more wealth at its disposal than that. 

I had forgotten about their overpriced dorm fiasco.

This college's recent history has not been fair to the memory of its namesake.

[Hibush]

Bethune Cookman University:

https://hbcugameday.com/2021/07/17/sources-massive-admin-change-at-bethune-cookman/.

Highest salaried employees as of filing of the FY 2020 990:

LYNN THOMPSON (VP INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS)   $303,978
DR E LABRENT CHRITE (PRESIDENT (BEG. 07/2019))   $269,593
TERRY E SIMS (HEAD COACH)   $218,644

The school has been in deficit every year since 2014. It's got a track record of being a cesspool of fraud and embezzlement.

Those salaries are outrageous for a school no larger than that, with no more wealth at its disposal than that. 

I had forgotten about their overpriced dorm fiasco.

This college's recent history has not been fair to the memory of its namesake.

The NY Times just ran an article "Historically Black Colleges Finally Get the Spotlight" about star hirings and other successes. Bethune-Cookman is mentioned for getting Reggie Theus in one of those star hires. Apparently the writers don't know the situation in the athletic department that created the vacancy.

[Mobius]

Kentucky State's president and two regents resigned in the past few days. Looks like their are some financial shenanigans afoot as the university has reported being in the black a few months ago.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/07/21/kentucky-states-president-resigns-amid-financial-anxiety

[Wahoo Redux]

Allegheny College Cuts 36 Positions---IHE

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/07/29/allegheny-college-cuts-36-positions

[apl68]

Allegheny College Cuts 36 Positions---IHE

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/07/29/allegheny-college-cuts-36-positions

Apparently all administrators and staff.  That's a pretty substantial chunk at a school that has well under 2,000 students--and fewer now than it did a couple of years ago.  Unless they were grossly overstaffed to start with, the remaining staff are really going to have to stretch to cover everything.

[lightning]

Allegheny College Cuts 36 Positions---IHE

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/07/29/allegheny-college-cuts-36-positions

Apparently all administrators and staff.  That's a pretty substantial chunk at a school that has well under 2,000 students--and fewer now than it did a couple of years ago.  Unless they were grossly overstaffed to start with, the remaining staff are really going to have to stretch to cover everything.

A lot of the staff work will now be done by faculty.

[spork]

Allegheny College Cuts 36 Positions---IHE

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/07/29/allegheny-college-cuts-36-positions

Apparently all administrators and staff.  That's a pretty substantial chunk at a school that has well under 2,000 students--and fewer now than it did a couple of years ago.  Unless they were grossly overstaffed to start with, the remaining staff are really going to have to stretch to cover everything.

Allegheny has been on a downward slide since the 2008 recession. In FY 2010 it booked almost $17 million in investment income and $9 million in contributions to generate $11 million in net revenue, compared to net revenue less than $1 million for FY 2009. For FY 2011, it had $23 million in net revenue, from $10 million in contributions, $21 million in asset sales, and $8 million in investment income. The year after that, it was $10 million in deficit, booking a loss of $13 million in asset sales. Deficits FYs 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017. It basically broke even in FY 2020, with less than $1 million in net revenue.

[Hegemony]

When I was in grad school I did some research for someone who was perhaps the worst grad student I ever encountered. And this person did a lot of quasi-cheating on the dissertation too. Like, if they were writing a dissertation on Virginia Woolf, instead of reading any of Woolf's novels, they would read the review of a book of literary criticism on Woolf and then fake a lot of drivel about Woolf on the basis of the review. The rest of us were astonished when this person scraped by and actually was awarded the PhD. And was promptly snapped up at a high salary by Allegheny College. 

[apl68]

When I was in grad school I did some research for someone who was perhaps the worst grad student I ever encountered. And this person did a lot of quasi-cheating on the dissertation too. Like, if they were writing a dissertation on Virginia Woolf, instead of reading any of Woolf's novels, they would read the review of a book of literary criticism on Woolf and then fake a lot of drivel about Woolf on the basis of the review. The rest of us were astonished when this person scraped by and actually was awarded the PhD. And was promptly snapped up at a high salary by Allegheny College.

That is pretty shocking, when you consider the glut of legitimately qualified PhDs out there competing for work.  They could have had their choice of those. 

[Wahoo Redux]

When I was in grad school I did some research for someone who was perhaps the worst grad student I ever encountered. And this person did a lot of quasi-cheating on the dissertation too. Like, if they were writing a dissertation on Virginia Woolf, instead of reading any of Woolf's novels, they would read the review of a book of literary criticism on Woolf and then fake a lot of drivel about Woolf on the basis of the review. The rest of us were astonished when this person scraped by and actually was awarded the PhD. And was promptly snapped up at a high salary by Allegheny College.

That is pretty shocking, when you consider the glut of legitimately qualified PhDs out there competing for work.  They could have had their choice of those.

Well, not to defend Allegheny (which I know nothing about) but one would need to be an expert on Woolf, with an encyclopedic knowledge of the criticism, to catch plagiarism from a cover letter and job-talk.  I imagine this incredible A-hat hegemony speaks of probably sounded pretty good on the other end if hu was reciting top-notch scholarship as if it were hu's own.

The bad vibes need to be directed at the grad student who plagiarized. 

I'm just sad for Allegheny and all the other schools sliding toward the tubes.

[Hegemony]

The case I mentioned actually involved a difficult, highly desired foreign language (think Arabic), and so it would have been harder for a non-speaker of that language to detect the weakness of the applicant. At a small place like Allegheny, they may not have had any other experts in that language.

That said, a little googling reveals that the scholar in question has moved on to a higher-ranked university and has a distinguished career with a long list of published books. Jeepers. Hard to know what to think! Anyway, good luck to Allegheny.

[Hibush]

The case I mentioned actually involved a difficult, highly desired foreign language (think Arabic), and so it would have been harder for a non-speaker of that language to detect the weakness of the applicant. At a small place like Allegheny, they may not have had any other experts in that language.

That said, a little googling reveals that the scholar in question has moved on to a higher-ranked university and has a distinguished career with a long list of published books. Jeepers. Hard to know what to think! Anyway, good luck to Allegheny.

This person sounds very efficient. Their strategic career planning from the start is really paying off. I would not be surprised if they are also--according to plan--collecting the kind of accolades their present school values and that will position them for their next jump.

[Mobius]

Allegheny College Cuts 36 Positions---IHE

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/07/29/allegheny-college-cuts-36-positions

Apparently all administrators and staff.  That's a pretty substantial chunk at a school that has well under 2,000 students--and fewer now than it did a couple of years ago.  Unless they were grossly overstaffed to start with, the remaining staff are really going to have to stretch to cover everything.

Allegheny has been on a downward slide since the 2008 recession. In FY 2010 it booked almost $17 million in investment income and $9 million in contributions to generate $11 million in net revenue, compared to net revenue less than $1 million for FY 2009. For FY 2011, it had $23 million in net revenue, from $10 million in contributions, $21 million in asset sales, and $8 million in investment income. The year after that, it was $10 million in deficit, booking a loss of $13 million in asset sales. Deficits FYs 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017. It basically broke even in FY 2020, with less than $1 million in net revenue.

Interviewed for a VAP position there where the salary was low, but they offered a dorm room and meals.

[lightning]

Allegheny College Cuts 36 Positions---IHE

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/07/29/allegheny-college-cuts-36-positions

Apparently all administrators and staff.  That's a pretty substantial chunk at a school that has well under 2,000 students--and fewer now than it did a couple of years ago.  Unless they were grossly overstaffed to start with, the remaining staff are really going to have to stretch to cover everything.

Allegheny has been on a downward slide since the 2008 recession. In FY 2010 it booked almost $17 million in investment income and $9 million in contributions to generate $11 million in net revenue, compared to net revenue less than $1 million for FY 2009. For FY 2011, it had $23 million in net revenue, from $10 million in contributions, $21 million in asset sales, and $8 million in investment income. The year after that, it was $10 million in deficit, booking a loss of $13 million in asset sales. Deficits FYs 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017. It basically broke even in FY 2020, with less than $1 million in net revenue.

Interviewed for a VAP position there where the salary was low, but they offered a dorm room and meals.

Did the dorm room have a private bathroom, at least?

[spork]

Vista College, a for-profit in Texas, goes belly up:

https://www.kbtx.com/2021/08/10/vista-college-suspends-in-person-enrollment-furloughs-employees-across-texas/.