Latest news with #DavidFithian
Boston Globe
15 hours ago
- Business
- Boston Globe
Facing declining enrollment, Clark University to reduce faculty by as much as 30 percent over next three years
'All of higher education, Clark included, is at a critical inflection point,' university president David Fithian said. 'Rather than simply meet this challenging moment as an exercise in budget constraint, we have taken a longer view, leaning into current strengths and what is best about Clark to offer our students an even more compelling experience going forward.' Advertisement The number of faculty members will be reduced by 25 to 30 percent over the next three years, administrators said. Retirements and voluntary attrition will go toward the targeted reductions before layoffs are considered for non-tenure, pre-tenure, and adjunct faculty, they said. Provost John Magee said in the statement that it was 'too soon' to determine whether tenured faculty will be affected. Clark employed 228 full-time and 101 part-time instructional faculty members last year, according to the Common Data Set, which tracks university demographics. Clark's chapter of the American Association of University Professors, which represents full-time faculty, did not immediately return a request for comment. The university is also implementing a hiring freeze for staff as part of a 5 percent reduction over the next year, administrators said. Advertisement Administrators also said that majors with low enrollment will be eliminated, with new majors, courses, and concentrations added. The school will refocus its curriculum to three areas it identified as 'most relevant to meeting the needs of a changing world': climate, environment, and society; media arts, computing, and design; and health and human behavior. Related : David Jordan resigned as dean of the university's School of Business, administrators wrote in a University officials said the move would reduce administrative overhead and allow both programs to coordinate better with each other. 'A university-wide restructuring is essential to meet the fiscal and market demands of the moment,' the administrators wrote. 'Every business must learn to adapt and be agile in responding to external forces, and that is what Clark is doing.' Administrators said the reductions would not negatively impact the 'highly personalized nature' of instruction at Clark, adding that the school will still aim for a student-faculty ratio of 10 to 1. That ratio stood at 8.5 to 1 in fall 2024, according to the Common Data Set. Last year, Clark enrolled 430 students in the freshman class, according to the Common Data Set. That marked a sharp decline from the 637 first-year students who enrolled Advertisement Clark is the latest small, private university to contract under enrollment pressures. Last year, Citing low demand, Rhode Island College in Providence Several other smaller schools Camilo Fonseca can be reached at
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Central Mass. university to lay off 30% of faculty amid enrollment woes
Clark University in Worcester is planning to lay off up to 30% of faculty and 5% of staff while restructuring degree programs due to enrollment and financial challenges, according to the institution. 'All of higher education, Clark included, is at a critical inflection point,' Clark University President David Fithian said in a statement. 'Rather than simply meet this challenging moment as an exercise in budget constraint, we have taken a longer view, leaning into current strengths and what is best about Clark to offer our students an even more compelling experience going forward.' The announcement comes in part as a reaction to the incoming first-year class not hitting the mark for how many students the institution aims for. The incoming class is underenrolled by 80 to 100 students, the institution said. Read more: Why transforming vacant college campuses into housing isn't easy The layoffs come after Worcester Polytechnic Institute laid off 24 employees due to pressures from rising costs and uncertainty regarding the Trump administration's policies on higher education. In Massachusetts, over two dozen colleges and universities have closed or merged over the past decade due to financial and enrollment difficulties. Most recently, Eastern Nazarene College, a private Christian liberal arts college in Quincy, announced in June that it would close due to financial issues. Bard College at Simon's Rock said in November it would close its campus due to declining enrollment. On top of layoffs at Clark, the university plans to reconfigure its academic programs. That includes eliminating lower-enrolled majors. It will be divided into Climate, Environment & Society; Media Arts, Computing & Design; and Health & Human Behavior. These 'align with student interests and create a wide range of career paths for Clark graduates,' which will create hubs for 'interdisciplinary learning, research, and community engagement,' according to the institution. 'Clark is strong, there is great enthusiasm for the Clark student experience, and we do important, impactful work around the world. The opportunity we are seizing now is to harness all of that and come forward with an even more compelling approach to education, more opportunities to advance innovative solutions to big, intractable global challenges, and a more sustainable operating model. That is precisely what our plan for the future accomplishes,' Fithian said. 'Incredibly ironic': Trump antisemitism effort may force out Harvard's Israeli Jews MIT bans class president who gave pro-Palestine speech from commencement Why the fight over foreign students at Harvard has some US students leaving, too Harvard affinity group graduations held off campus amid 'capitulation' to Trump Harvard commencement speaker says it's fitting to 'hear from an immigrant like me' Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Clark University announces plans to scale down operations; layoffs coming
(This story has been updated with additional information.) WORCESTER ― Clark University is planning substantial cutbacks and restructuring as the school grapples with lower enrollment and the public's changing attitude toward college, with a quarter of faculty expected to be laid off over the next two years. "Now is a challenging time for those in higher education," Clark President David Fithian said. "We are announcing this plan to refocus what you would call our educational offerings from a student perspective." In an interview with the Telegram & Gazette, Fithian and Vice President for Academic Affairs John Magee said the university will be restructured, with all programming encompassed in three different broad fields of study in The School of Climate, Environment and Society; The Center for Media Arts, Computing and Design; and in health and human behavior. "We want to pick areas of academic studies where we know that we are good at," Fithian said. "For smaller institutions, you can't do everything equally well and we have to pick and choose what we are good at and what we are going to do going forward." While the university does not intend on cutting any programs, many of the programs will be placed to fit within the three main schools, streamlining a lot of the administrative process. Clark officials stated that approximately 25% to 30% of faculty will have their positions eliminated over the next two years, although that number may change. The layoffs are expected to affect non-tenured, pre-tenured and adjunct faculty. A decline in enrollment was cited as the biggest factor behind the changes. Fithian said the incoming freshman class, the Class of 2029, contains just 430 students, approximately 150 fewer than the school has averaged in the past. Fithian said the loss of students for the upcoming school year translates to approximately $7 million is less revenue. Fithian added that the school has lost around $1.5 million this year in grant funding from the federal government, while adding that the total could change and it's possible new grants could supplant lost revenue. "There are some grants that are still getting approved for different programs — obviously some grants are being targeted more than others (for cancellation) but it's possible we have more grant money in the future," Fithian said. Fithian said several factors led to declining enrollment — the first that prospective students and their families have become more discerning about the college process. "There is this doubt on whether going to college is the best path coming out of high school, and college has gotten expensive and more and more families are struggling to pay for it," Fithian said. "We get questions now about demonstrating outcomes — and the number one question we get is asking what Clark students are paid one to three years after graduating. You hear a lot more questions about what our students do if they are, for example, a political science major." Another factor is what those in higher education refer to as the "demographic cliff," an upcoming period where there will be a shortage of college-aged students, reflective of fewer births since the Great Recession in the late 2000s. Fithian said that the goal with the changes at Clark is to better position the school to thrive at what is anticipated to be a smaller scale. "Colleges and universities have survived for as long as they have because they have not undertaken a lot of risks," Fithian said. "What we are finding is that the environment that exists today will not allow for that. There is not this sense that if we just stay the course, others will revert to that. What we are doing is acknowledging that we need to change." At the graduate-school level, where a majority of the students are international, concerns about federal policy regarding student visas, including an incident in April in which 12 Clark students had their visas revoked, has led to apprehension about attending school in the United States. More: 12 Clark students have visas revoked in latest blow to Worcester's international students "A lot of schools attract a lot of international students, and there is a lot of pause and apprehension coming from international students," Fithian said. "Last year there was a delay in appointments for visas and we learned in August that a good number of students couldn't get a visa appointment until October, November or December. I'm worried about that happening again — the visa appointments may get delayed or outright denied." Fithian added that he said the school may consider selling off real estate in the future. Fithian said that moving forward, Clark and any other institute of higher learning needs to improve at showcasing the benefits of its education. "What we need to do a better job across the board in higher ed is not just explaining outcomes that go beyond first-year salaries out of college, but to better connect what we think of is liberal arts education, broad-based learning to make sure students are exposed to a scientific perspective, a historical perspective," Fithian said. "We need to do a better job demonstrating that the education we provide that connects those disciplines and the value that has to graduates." This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Clark University announces restructuring and faculty layoffs
Boston Globe
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
12 international students at Clark University have had their visas revoked, college officials say
The message was signed by President David Fithian, Provost John Magee, and John LaBrie, Associate Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies and International Programs. Advertisement 'The past week has been an especially unsettling one for our international students, with the federal government's unprecedented process of revoking student visas,' the administrators said. 'Unfortunately, we expect this will continue.' Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the visas are being pulled for alleged involvement in pro-Palestinian protests or because they have ties to 'potential criminal activity.' Advertisement At Clark, staff are working with the students 'to ensure they understand their basic legal rights, help them obtain legal representation, and plan for continuing their studies,' they said. The university is urging international students to review their visas and keep their personal documentation up to date. 'In further support for our international students, Clark joined 85 other higher education institutions and organizations across the country in signing onto an amicus brief in AAUP v. Rubio, a case challenging the federal government's revocation of visas and detentions of noncitizen students and scholars,' administrators said. Emily Sweeney can be reached at
