Posted on 02/03/2024 12:11:37 PM PST by EBH
Faced with a nearly $20 million budget deficit, Baldwin Wallace University yesterday announced layoffs, program cuts and other measures it will undertake to bring its books into balance.
"Like many universities across our country, both large and small, BW must always work to maintain a balanced budget," the university said in a release. "During the past two years we have operated with budget deficits, which we cannot continue to do. To address the operating deficit, we have looked at every area of the university over the past few months to ensure that we are operating as cost-effectively as possible. As a tuition-driven institution, it is imperative that we are operating efficiently so that every possible resource can be devoted directly to the student experience."
A hiring freeze instituted in Sept. 2023 will continue through the end of 2024, 23 full and part-time staff and non-tenured faculty will be laid off, and 13 programs will be organized or eliminated, among other moves meant to trim expenses.
Earlier this year, BW began assessing how to solve what at the time it thought was a $3 million deficit, a product of nationwide pressures on small, private schools due to rising costs and decreased revenue from enrollment. Following the hire of a new CFO, however, the school discovered the deficit was far larger — $20 million. The news brought turmoil to faculty and the student body, both understandably nervous about what drastic cuts awaited and how they would effect the university.
Consultants were hired as the board scrambled to find a solution. And even as school officials told reporters, including at the student-run paper The Exponent, that no firm plans were in place last fall to exact cuts on programs, everyone saw the writing on the wall.
“The reality is we’ve been outperforming our market," Scott Schulz, BW's vice president for enrollment management, told The Exponent. "We’re number one, you can’t be a lot more than number one or higher than that. Realistically, you’re not going to grow your way out of a budget situation.”
The university this week said it will continue working on recruitment to boost enrollment numbers along with planned reductions in expenses, but that investment will also arrive in areas that make "BW a great choice for a college education."
“We had a problem that was not discovered that grew larger and now we have to take what is definitely drastic action to fix it," Interim Provost Tom Sutton told The Exponent after a faculty forum earlier this week, "but if we had started working on this or knew about it five years ago, some decisions would have been different which might have avoided some of what we’re talking about."
Release the data on every dollar paid to every university by darpa, dod including every grant dollar. They are doing the research for the next pandemic just like the last one.
We have reached peak fake education.
Baldwin-Wallace is a decent school, not radically woke, should be attractive to potential students, but then again, they need a compelling reason to enroll there instead of somewhere cheaper. Right now they are one of many such schools in Ohio.
“The reality is we’ve been outperforming our market,” Scott Schulz, BW’s vice president for enrollment management, told The Exponent.
The cut programs include the French and German programs, Business Information Systems program, Enterprise Risk Analytics program, Organizational Leadership programs, the Business of Healthcare major and the Healthcare Management minor programs
Others will be merged. For example, the international studies and national security programs will merge to form a new major, so will the religion and philosophy programs.
We have a son that graduated from the Conservatory at BW a year ago. They charge out-of-state tuition for EVERYONE! During his schooling, BW separated themselves from the Methodist church that founded the college over same sex unions. During Covid, our son was home for two full years while we continued to shell out $50,000 per year. There were no refunds for anything (including room and board. I am hard pressuring figure out how they are in financial trouble after taking in way more than their services render. The old Provost and CFO should be investigated!
Completely missed offering these money magnet courses students desperately need.
(not a satire)
The Sociology Of Miley Cyrus: Race, Class, Gender, And Media
From: Skidmore College in New York
“rich examples for analyzing aspects of intersectional identities and media representation....looking at what’s relevant about sociology and sociology theory.”
All from longer list on:
https://www.ranker.com/list/stupidest-college-courses/samantha-dillinger
Stop paying profs more than the US president makes for “teaching” one or two classes a week.
Absolutely must take courses
Cleveland is a major healthcare hub to the nation believe it or not.
Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, MetroHealth are all highly recognized and regarded nationally. Cleveland Clinic internationally!
BW is cutting programs despite the nose on its face.
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