Dive Brief:
- Ohio-based Wittenberg University is moving to cut faculty, staff and programs as it tries to stem operating losses, according to a Friday message from university President Michael Frandsen.
- The private liberal arts institution’s board passed a resolution to eliminate 24 full time-equivalent faculty roles — six fewer than previously planned — and 45 staff positions. In all, about 40 faculty and staff members will be let go, while the other eliminations come from leaving open jobs unfilled, according to Frandsen’s message.
- Additionally, Wittenberg plans to nix five majors and their corresponding minors from its offerings: music, music education, German, Spanish and East Asian studies. The university is also cutting a minor in Chinese. The programs will be eliminated after the current academic year, Frandsen noted.
Dive Insight:
Frandsen described the employee cuts as necessary to eliminate Wittenberg’s estimated operating losses by fiscal 2027, a target that was part of the board’s resolution.
“I am saddened by the loss of these people and programs from our community,” Frandsen said in his message.
For the canceled programs, Wittenberg said students will have pathways to completing their majors, in some cases through an as yet unspecified partner institution. Frandsen said officials expect to have more information on those arrangements before the university’s fall break, in mid-October.
Wittenberg is taking other cost-cutting actions as it looks to balance its budget, including in student athletics. Specifically, the men’s and women’s tennis program, as well as women’s bowling, will end after the 2024-25 season, Frandsen said.
The university is also putting its international business and international studies undergraduate programs on hold until the faculty and the provost’s office “work to see if and how they can be reimagined,” the president said.
Cuts at the university spurred protests by students and faculty members last week, according to the Springfield News-Sun.
In August, the board’s initial approval of plans to cut faculty — a number originally set at 30 roles — prompted a no-confidence vote by the university’s faculty. At the time, the board said it would finalize details of the cuts by mid-September.
Wittenberg posted a $13.7 million total operating deficit for the fiscal year ending June 2023, more than double the previous year’s $5.7 million shortfall, per its latest financials. The university carries $38.2 million in debt stemming bonds issued in 2016.
For fiscal 2023, Wittenberg saw its tuition and fees revenue decline to $15.3 million, down by about $1.7 million compared to the year before. Meanwhile, its total operating expenses increased by $2.8 million, to $59.6 million.
That drop in tuition revenue follows a long-running decline in enrollment. Between 2017 and 2022, the university’s fall headcount fell about 31% to 1,299 students, according to federal data.
Wittenberg’s history stretches back to 1845. It was originally set up to train Lutheran ministers, and it included a divinity school until the 1970s. It went on to integrate sciences and other areas into its curriculum, in part with help from a donation by industrialist Andrew Carnegie in the early 20th century.
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