Clarion University, is planning some cuts in staff and programs to address a deficit and declining enrollment.
University spokesperson David Love said “the comprehensive workforce plan” would trim up to 40 jobs, including 22 faculty, with more than a dozen other positions remaining unfilled or eliminated through retirement and attrition. But no faculty members will be furloughed during this academic year.
According to Love, the school, with 6,500 students, is facing an $8 million deficit that would grow to $12 million by 2015. “We had to take action, that’s a very big number,” Love said. “It was a very thorough approach to how do we rework things, save money without impacting the student experience and how we can possibly enhance it as well.”
The cuts include eliminating the music education program but not until every current major has graduated. “It is true the College of Education is being dissolved, but the education program itself will not be eliminated,” Love emphasized. “It’s going to be reworked into other colleges; we’re basically consolidating four colleges into three. This restructure will actually allow us to more efficiently deliver education and provide additional career opportunities for our graduates.”
German and French courses will also be eliminated, but Love says the university plans to shift some additional resources to growing academic areas, including nursing.
Clarion, one of Pennsylvania’s 14 state-owned universities, is accepting comments on the plan, which is posted online, through Monday.
