Dive Brief:
- Baldwin Wallace University unveiled a plan Tuesday to cut 10 academic programs and lay off 28 faculty and staff members to balance its budget and streamline operations.
- The private Ohio university also plans to consolidate several administrative units. For instance, those dealing with the student experience — including admissions, student wellness and first-year experience — will be put under a single leadership line.
- The university’s board approved the plan, which originated from a workgroup including administrators, faculty and trustees. “We believe this plan not only makes us a more efficient and sustainable organization, but a more effective one, as well,” Greg Flanik, Baldwin Wallace’s vice president of operations, said in a press release.
Dive Insight:
This is the second round of cuts that Baldwin Wallace has announced this year. In February, the university announced it would nix or consolidate 13 majors and eliminate 23 jobs, many of which were already vacant.
The university then launched a workgroup tasked with engaging the campus “in a rigorous review to create an even stronger BW,” Flanik said.
The need for change stems from the university’s multimillion dollar deficits in recent years. Excluding revenue with donor restrictions, Baldwin Wallace posted a deficit of $14.1 million in fiscal 2023, up from $10.2 million the year before, according to its latest financials.
The university previously projected a $20 million deficit for the 2023-24 year, which it now expects to be reduced by $13.5 million after cuts are implemented.
Acting President and Interim Provost Thomas Sutton said in the Tuesday release that the latest plan addresses “enrollment trends, shifting demands for various majors and increasing costs related to gaining a college degree.”
Over the five years between 2017 and 2022, Baldwin Wallace’s fall headcount declined 15.1% to 3,220 students, per federal data. And that figure was down 25.9% from 2010.
But the university also pointed to positive signs, including an increase in full-time undergraduate enrollment for the past three fall semesters. The bump brought the student body back to pre-pandemic levels, Baldwin Wallace said.
The latest restructuring plan calls for laying off two executive-level staff, eight nonexecutive staff and 18 faculty members. Those are in addition to 17 staffers and 19 faculty members who accepted buyouts last month.
Including past buyouts and eliminations, the university expects total faculty to decrease 23%, from 213 at the start of the current semester to 164 when the restructuring is complete.
Additionally, Baldwin Wallace said it will consolidate academic administration by eliminating all but one of the deans overseeing its five academic units, as well as nine associate deans. Now, the units will report directly to the provost’s office.
On the program chopping block are:
- Music history.
- Jazz.
- Visual/studio art.
- Communication studies.
- Film studies.
- Public relations.
- Public health.
- Master’s in public health.
- Digital marketing-to-MBA graduate program.
- Master’s in higher education leadership.
Programs set to wind down will have their own teach-out schedules for currently enrolled students and won’t accept new students, the university said.
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