As Evergreen State College enrollment shrinks, so does the faculty

Herald Net ^ | 12/10/2019 | Abby Spegman

[SeekAndFind]

OLYMPIA — Freshman Wasmine Ghosheh said she noticed it in the dorms.

When the 19-year-old from Sonoma County, California, arrived at The Evergreen State College in September, she met students who were supposed to have roommates but ended up with their own rooms.

“There’s a lot of space — it’s spacious, let’s say,” Ghosheh said the Friday before Thanksgiving break in a nearly empty cafeteria on campus.

Evergreen’s enrollment this fall was 2,854 students, down more than 40% from its peak head count a decade ago. The decline, corresponding with an economic recovery and mirroring a trend in liberal arts enrollment nationally, was compounded by campus unrest two and a half years ago that made national headlines.

Since then, the college has tried new ways to attract and retain students and shore up its profile. Officials say they are seeing early signs of progress, but President George Bridges told trustees at a November board meeting the college this year will need a “laser focus” in these areas.

Put plainly, students mean tuition, and less tuition means budget cuts. The college’s net annual revenue has been in the red for five years, according to a June financial overview to trustees. In 2018-19, Evergreen looked to cut 10% from its operating budget. For this year, it cut another 5%.

The college plans its course offerings with a 22-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio, so as student numbers have fallen, so too have faculty numbers, said David McAvity, Evergreen’s dean for academic budgets. In just two years, the college has cut the equivalent of 34 full-time faculty positions, a 20% decrease.

Last school year, the college started offering retirement incentives to some tenured faculty. (Evergreen doesn’t use the term “tenured,” however, instead referring to them as faculty with a continuing contract.)

[DPMD]

Pink lied, Rachel died.

[Deplorable American1776]

That's a shame...hey Evergreen, why not try being something else, a Conservative College. Maybe enrollment might increase..

A conservative college in Washington? It might start a new trend...

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Glad to see Commie Central University is going down the crapper. About time.

[Billthedrill]

Put plainly, students mean tuition, and less tuition means budget cuts.

More important is the fact that Evergreen is a state institution and headcount affects funding over and above what tuition pays for:

The college also is doing more outreach to lawmakers who control its state funding, trying to make the case for continuing support despite the enrollment trend.

I'll bet they are. There are state legislators willing to buy into the claim that it's too valuable an institution not to fund anyway but they tend to get fewer as the on-campus antics make headlines. There are more colleges than Evergreen in Washington state and they all have to compete on the per-student funding ground. Holding that Evergreen is special because it's a luxurious incubator for student social activism is not going to win any funding arguments.

[reg45]

Tenure protects many older non leftist professors.

[newfreep]

...non leftist professors

This is a mythical idea that does not exist in reality.

As I stated, the concept of "tenure" is unAmerican.