* The school’s academic major programs in music, music education, German, Spanish, East Asian studies are being eliminated after this school year, along with the minor in Chinese.
* No further declarations of major will be allowed in international business and international studies until further notice “as the Provost and faculty work to see if and how they can be reimagined.”
* This school year will be the final seasons for the men’s and women’s tennis teams and women’s bowling team.
* The jobs of 24 full-time equivalent faculty and 45 full-time equivalent staff members will be eliminated. But, the university said because some current employees will be assigned to open positions, and some open positions will not be filled, the reductions impact about 40 individuals.
“Students who have declared majors in the areas above will have a pathway to complete their programs,” university President Michael Frandsen said in the email. “In some cases, that opportunity will be through or at a partner institution. We are still working to finalize those arrangements and expect to have information before Fall Break.”
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
Protest, student anger
Following an early announcement of cuts Friday, 10-12 students and faculty members protested outside of Recitation Hall, where Frandsen’s office is located. The university sent an updated email announcing additional cuts during the protest.
Will Boeck, a music and computer science double major who was protesting Friday, questioned his future at the university and if finishing his degree at a school “that started failing while I was attending it” would be worth it.
“Either I’m going to finish my degree here, at a subpar university, or I’m going to have to transfer, and that’ll take extra money and time, potentially extra semesters and it just, it sucks,” Boeck said. “I blame it on the mismanagement of the board over all these years that led to where we are now.”
Wittenberg is a 179-year-old private liberal arts university just north of downtown Springfield. The university said it had 1,288 undergraduate students and 45 graduate students as of fall 2023, along with 25 intercollegiate athletic teams in NCAA Division III.
The university recorded a $17 million deficit in the 2022-23 school year, according to its IRS form 990 tax records examined by the News-Sun. The Board of Directors resolved to fully eliminate its forecasted financial operating losses by fiscal year 2027, leading to these cuts.
Confidence vs. sadness
A letter earlier this week from Frandsen and Board Chair William Edwards cited an “unshakeable” belief in Wittenberg, and the ability of its faculty and staff to “transform students’ lives.” They said the ongoing process has “allowed us to see beyond our immediate needs and into a stronger, more forward-facing future.”
But Friday afternoon’s letter was more somber as Frandsen wrote that “the last couple of days have been difficult as we inform colleagues that their positions are being eliminated.” He referred to the “valuable contributions” made by the people soon to be let go, adding, “I am saddened by the loss of these people and programs from our community.”
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
The staff cuts, while significant, are smaller than had been proposed in recent weeks and months. Wittenberg communications said they decided to “move forward with only 24 faculty position eliminations, three of which will be achieved via retirements.” An August statement from the university had mentioned the reduction of 30 faculty positions, along with increased use of online models of learning. The university has about 100 faculty members currently.
The planned reduction of 45 staff positions has gotten notably smaller because about half of those 45 positions “are currently unoccupied following some internal transitions,” according to the school.
Asked for further explanation, Karen Gerboth, Wittenberg’s vice president of marketing & communications, said Friday, “because some employees are being assigned to open positions, and some open positions are not being filled, the reductions impact less people.”
“We recognize that this is a difficult and uncertain time for all of us as we work to fully eliminate forecasted financial losses by fiscal year 2027 by reducing faculty and staff positions,” the letter said. “However, since the start of the budgetary hardship process, the board has had a singular focus: to preserve the best of Wittenberg and ensure the university thrives.”
Lori Askeland, American Association of University Professors advocacy chapter president at Wittenberg, said Friday that faculty and students are upset that the music and world languages programs at Wittenberg will be discontinued after 180 years.
“These programs represent key areas of the arts and humanities, and are core to our mission of producing ‘global citizens’ and ‘wholeness of person,’” Askeland said. “Music brings our community together, and language connects us to other worlds, other world views. Many of us are simply devastated by this loss.”
Askeland said those two programs account for 10 faculty members that would be cut, while the other faculty cuts were being announced Friday. Some of those professors had already posted on social media about the pending elimination of their jobs.
Sheccid Rivas Castillo, a senior double-majoring in biology and Spanish who protested on campus Friday, said the university is taking the ability away from students to learn other languages, something she said is very important in today’s world. She said it has made her happy to see students excited to learn her language of Spanish.
“I have learned to be confident in my language, and I’ve learned to appreciate everything, and I’ve understood more in the past couple years than I have in my entire life, just by taking classes with certain professors that I probably would have never taken with,” Rivas Castillo said.
Mikayla Myers, a senior majoring in music education who protested Friday, said she has lost hope for the administration, which she said is “taking away the concept of liberal arts that I was told when I was touring colleges.” She said taking away “the value of liberal arts” in her senior year leaves her disappointed and going through the stages of grief.
“Luckily I’m graduating, but my goal is to help my underclassmen try and find a place that’s a good fit for them, and if they decide they don’t want to transfer, finding a major for them to complete while the university is still afloat to try and help them live stably,” Myers said.
Frandsen said in his Friday evening email that the decisions to cut the jobs of “valued members of our community who make valuable contributions to Wittenberg’s work” were not made lightly.
News Sun staff Jeremy P. Kelley and Bill Lackey contributed to this report.
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