PEORIA, Ill. – The president of Bradley University says, in the wake of proposed program and faculty cuts, the university is still in a strong position.
Last week, Stephen Standifird in an email to staff, which was later confirmed in a press release, proposed 17 programs and 47 faculty positions for elimination. Another five programs would be cut but still have classes remain, and another 21 faculty positions would be eliminated through attrition. The moves are part of $13 million in cuts.
Standifird says, despite the proposed cuts, the university is still in a strong position with its finances and academic programs. But the proposals are trying to put the university in a good position, even with studies reporting on recent challenges with enrollment in higher education.
“Really kind of flatten up for the first time in our lifetime,” Standifird said. “And yet, at the same time, higher education increased its capacity by about 25%. So by almost any measure, higher education is operating in an environment right now where it’s over capacity.”
To address those challengers, Standifird says discussions began this summer about which programs and faculty would be on the chopping block. He says those discussions focused on what the programs were doing, and what students today are looking for in their educational experience.
Standifird says the factors that led to the determination of which programs would be cut included enrollment figures in the past five years, along with future demands at the university.
The cuts would affect around 3.5% of the student population, but Standifird says those students will still get to
“It’s called a ‘teach out phase,’ and it’s something we’re absolutely committed to doing,” Standifird said. “So nobody who’s program is being discontinued has to worry about whether they can complete the program.”
Standifird says it would take a few years for those students to complete their programs, which he says means it could take that long as well to realize the impact of the cuts.
Programs that are affected are in the process of a 30-day evaluation period to make the case on whether it should be cut or not. Standifird says a final determination and announcement on what will be cut will be made in early-December.
Bradley students are planning a walkout for Tuesday at 10 am near Lydia Circle.
”A number of my colleagues will be doing a walkout tomorrow. I will give a shoutout to those who are organizing with us. They worked with us. There are rules and regulations about how you do those things on campus, and they’ve been very respectful in coordinating those things to do that. I respect their right to have those types of conversations,” Standifird told 25 News.
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