I cannot imagine that 36 students could support 40 jobs. I think they used the downturn as an excuse to cut. But…
announced that it will eliminate 40 positions (with faculty jobs included in the mix) — about 10 percent of the college’s total employees. The reason is that this year’s total student enrollment is smaller, by 36 students, than the college had planned. (Total enrollment ended up at 1,289.) At Ohio State, 36 students would be a rounding error. But at Beloit — and at many liberal arts colleges — that’s enough to create real problems and force real change, including layoffs.
Beloit is not among the colleges that need to explore mergers to survive — and is by most measures highly successful, known for the strength of its liberal arts programs and as a Wisconsin alternative to the large public universities that thrive in the Midwest.
Beloit is not the only college planning layoffs, and it won’t be the last either. I’ve been compiling news about college responses to the economic crisis, and within two days, I had identified over 100 colleges that were planning some sort of cutback or hiring/salary freeze. It’s likely, however, that *most* of the news regarding college layoffs won’t start coming out until after January, when admissions application deadlines pass. No one wants to scare off prospective students. And, the real crunch for colleges and universities won’t be this year — it will be next year, when I expect announcements like Beloit’s (and Clemson’s, Arizona State U, and so on…) this week will be a dime a dozen. It won’t be just small schools either.