Baldwin Wallace is downsizing yet again.
And the university doesn’t have much of a choice according to president Lee Fisher, who wrote faculty and staff last week with the news following a board meeting on May 8 that finalized the school’s budget for the next year.
To reach “financial stability,” the school will have to phase out and cut some 35 programs—28 majors and minors, along with seven grad programs. Ten faculty will be let go as a result.
Majors that will no longer be offered include Community Health Education Promotion, Economics, Human Resources, International Business, Mild/Moderate Educational Needs, Music Theory, Physics, Sociology, and Sustainability.
The decision to slash those programs, Fisher urged his staff to understand, was made “only after extensive review and thoughtful consideration.”
“At the same time, we must also be clear about why we are making these decisions,” he wrote. “They are grounded in our commitment to ensuring that BW remains strong, sustainable, and able to deliver on our promise to our students today and in the years to come.”
A university spokesperson said that while the majors themselves are being eliminated, much of the same coursework and instruction will still be available as part of other programs.
Colleges and universities are dealing with an enrollment cliff that economists see as a reflection of declining birthrates during the Great Recession. From Kent State to Lakeland Community College to Notre Dame in South Euclid, the numbers are getting harder to pencil. A 2018 study from Carleton College in Minnesota found that 19 states in the Midwest and Northeast will suffer a 15% drop in students from 2012 to 2029.
BW has already gone through previous cuts and trims. At the end of 2024, BW laid off or offered buyouts for 35 faculty and staff, or about seven percent of its teaching base.
BW’s budget woes —an initial estimate of a $3 million deficit that grew to $20 million— have been exceptionally public as have accusations from faculty, staff and students that leadership has bungled day-to-day operations in addition to the bigger picture.
“I don’t like to talk bad about anybody, but it was the most toxic environment I’ve worked in in my life,” one former faculty member who wished to remain anonymous told Scene. They cited HR complaints not being followed up on, a my-way-or-the-highway mentality in the administrative staff and secretive reasoning around letting go “competent people.”
Including those in the recent line of layoffs.
“I mean, how can you call yourself a liberal [arts] college or a conservatory when you cut Music Theory?” the former faculty member said. “Everything’s been cut. Why would anyone go there?”
A BW spokesperson countered those arguments.
“The reduction in faculty positions is not a reflection of their competence – they are all excellent professors. It is a change based on student and market demand for those programs. BW conducted a thorough review of every program and of our ability to recruit, retain, and graduate students in these programs, along with the demand for graduates in the workplace, which led to these changes.”
They added: “Under President Fisher’s leadership, we have made rebuilding our culture through transparency, communication, and follow-through a centerpiece of BW’s transformation. That work is visible to anyone who spends time on our campus today, and we are proud of the progress our faculty and staff have made together. We respectfully decline to respond to anonymous characterizations.”
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