Kentucky’s community college system just laid off nearly 200 people, including 45 faculty and 125 staff members.
What are the causes of this slashing? My readers will be utterly unsurprised to learn that declining enrollment was one. In addition, the state cut support:
President Jay Box was not immediately available for comment Wednesday. But earlier this month, he warned of upcoming spending reductions because of a 4.5 percent cut in state support over the next two years. Those cuts come on top of $39 million in budget reductions from the state since 2008.
Ballooning pension costs seem to play a factor in the state’s budgeting. I’m not sure why they grew.
336 currently empty positions were terminated as well.
I can’t determine which departments were targeted, so I can’t add more details to this queen sacrifice+.
American higher education is not in a good place right now.
Keep an eye on what is going on in Kentucky. NKU is cutting, as is Morehead State. The problem is the unfunded pension, and the state increasing the responsibility to pay into it from institutions. http://www.governing.com/topics/finance/gov-kentucky-pensions.html
Good catch, Lee! Blogging and crediting you now.
Hi Bryan,
As I am retired and no longer directly involved in instructional technology, I do not pay close attention to your messages, though some do catch my interest. I would like to stay on your mailing list. My current hobby is to learn JavaScript and related web develpement stuff and I’m having fun with it. I will also be teaching a class in Python, and one in Web Development at a one week summer program for rising 6th through 9th graders this summer. I just re-read “Hackers” by Steven Levy. I was at M.I.T. when all the stuff in the first third of the book happened…and was one of the few in my class very interested in computers. However, I was not interested in Electrical Engineering and did not know of the hacker community. I don’t know that I had the passion and skill to have been part of that community, but I know I would have tried.
I was the instructional technologist at Emory & Henry college, a small Methodist college near Abingdon, VA, from the fall of 2005 through the spring of 2014. Emory & Henry, like many small liberal arts colleges, has been having financial difficulties for a number of years and they hope that getting their enrollment from around 1000 up to 1200 will make a significant difference. This has, apparently, proved to be quite difficult. They’ve pursued some other paths also.
I don’t think this is news worthy enough for you to post, but I thought I would fill you in anyway. The local paper had an article today stating that the college was laying off 12 staff members, and thanked them for their years of loyal service. Later in the day my former assistant called me to tell me that (a) he was still employed and (b) my boss, Lorraine Abraham was one of those laid off. This was stunning news to him, and to me. Lorraine was the head of the library and the CIO of the college. My understanding was that her salary was less than most CIOs of similar colleges earn (I’m guessing that it was well under 100K). She is brilliant, eccentric, and, I think, an outstanding manager and administrator. I infer that either the college is up against the wall, or has a plan to fill the void. Time will tell.
Since I have your attention.. would you care to recommend any science fiction books from the last few years?
Harry
Harry, I replied to some of this by email.
Once more, I’m sorry to hear about Emory & Henry. Are other ACA schools feeling similar pains?
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