Reaction to Wittenberg cuts mixed: Faculty frustrated, leaders look to long term

It is not clear whether any of the cuts will happen immediately. Previous reports said faculty who are slated to be cut would not be affected until 2025-26, because they are under contract for at least this school year. University staff hoped to get at least 60 days notice of cuts, based on federal laws around mass layoffs.

The first day of classes for Wittenberg’s new school year is Aug. 26.

At a board of directors meeting earlier this summer, it was suggested that up to 60 professors could be cut, along with 50-75 staff, while faculty pushed for a less drastic move. Initially, the board said they wanted to cut about $7 million from faculty and staff’s budget. There were about 100 faculty on campus in the 2023-24 school year, according to the plan obtained by the Springfield News-Sun.

“We believe this approach preserves the best of what makes Wittenberg thrive,” the board of directors said of the lesser cuts in their email Thursday. “The board strongly believes in the future of Wittenberg, and these changes will put us back on a path to deliver on our mission of providing an educational experience dedicated to the intellectual inquiry in a residential setting.”

Lori Askeland, American Association of University Professors advocacy chapter president at Wittenberg said Thursday that cutting 30 faculty and 45 staff is still “a huge number of an already stretched group of workers.”

“And the devil is in the details, which we do not yet know. No faculty, not even the provost, who is the chief academic officer, were allowed in the room where this plan was crafted,” Askeland said. “This board has exhibited a shameful degree of ignorance about the basic logistics of running an accredited academic institution so far, and that body created the financial situation we are in through decades of mismanagement. So I am, sadly, not optimistic that this hail-Mary, slapped-together plan will best serve the institution or our students.”

The board said it reviewed proposals Thursday that were prepared by University President Michael Frandsen in collaboration with members of the administration and faculty “to address Wittenberg’s financial situation.”

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. Wittenberg spent about $96 million that year, and about $26 million was spent on salaries and benefits for staff.

The university’s 2023-24 IRS 990 forms are not yet publicly available.

Wittenberg sophomore Lukas Rieben said the changes Wittenberg is making aren’t “necessarily a bad thing” and the school will still have its attractions like sports and facilities, but “academics might be a little bit lower on that list.”

“I think the compromises they’ve come to is the best for all the current students and all students that are going to come to Wittenberg, even though it is frustrating,” Rieben said. “It’s something that higher education just has to adapt to.”

Springfield Mayor Rob Rue said the city is sad and concerned about the staff cuts but understands the challenges with which Wittenberg is faced. He said Wittenberg is important to the Springfield community.

Rue said with a lot fewer students graduating high school and attending colleges and universities, particularly liberal arts schools, many smaller schools like Wittenberg are struggling.

“We’re hoping that the decisions that the board will announce in September on their plan will help the university be stronger than before,” Rue said.

Greater Springfield Partnership president and CEO Mike McDorman said the chamber is glad to hear that Wittenberg “has agreed on a plan that charts the course for a more sustainable future,” with the board working with the executive team and faculty and staff.

He said the school has to navigate challenges in academia including declining enrollment and technology advancing “to a point where it’s being a disruptor to a traditional academic setting.”

“I think the most important thing from a community perspective is that Wittenberg is a viable university going forward,” McDorman said.

Discussion of planned cuts earlier this summer focused heavily on replacing the services of many faculty members with classes from an online platform. Faculty questioned whether the university’s accreditation could be in jeopardy if it used as many online courses as originally proposed.

Askeland said faculty are also concerned because they don’t know when the details of the plan will be shared or whether they will be allowed to provide any feedback.

“The only date given is the same date as when we learn whether our current position is one that has been eliminated,” she said.

Wittenberg is a private liberal arts university that was established in 1845 and operates 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.

“We want to recognize the outpouring of interest, perspectives, and ideas that have been shared with the board and the administration in the recent weeks,” the board of directors’ statement said Thursday. “This has been a difficult time for the entire Wittenberg community. Thank you for your passion, commitment, and engagement.”

Many smaller, private colleges are facing financial challenges. Fewer people are graduating from high school as birth rates decline, and even fewer are choosing to attend college. For those who are attending college, price is often a main factor in deciding where to go, and private universities are generally more expensive than public ones, unless financial aid levels the playing field.

Combine those factors with the financial challenges of the COVID pandemic, and many small colleges are facing a perfect storm. In the past few years in Ohio, Urbana University and Notre Dame College in Cleveland are among those that have closed.

“The road ahead will be challenging, but the board’s belief in Wittenberg’s future remains unshakeable,” the board statement Thursday said. “Together, we will emerge stronger and ready to provide transformative educational experiences for generations to come. Our success depends on every member of Wittenberg reaffirming their commitment and conviction to the university. We call upon you to stand with us in supporting Wittenberg in every possible way.”