Demographics are region-dependent as well.
OH colleges are already feeling the effects of shrinking HS graduation cohorts. Very soon, the Northeastern schools and most of the Midwest will as well. Not long after, so will most of the South.
I really admire the courage and solidarity of the Sweet Briar alumnae. Whatever problems that SB had, it clearly didn’t have anything to do with the quality of the women that it attracted or graduated. Can they really save the school? Probably not, in my opinion, but it will give them peace of mind to try and I think that’s what’s critical for the movement.
Hopefully it’s a healthy level of guarded pessimism. I know that many state universities are struggling to deal with the fact that they have an obligation towards their in-state residents that clashes with the state governments’ general aversion towards giving them more taxpayer money and the general unpopularity of tuition increases. If I were them I would be gloomy all of the time, even though I agree with you that it’s unrealistic that, say, Virginia is going to give up on UVA or California will decide that they don’t really need UCs any more.
As noble as the efforts appear, the leaders should stop pretending to have been blindsided. Invested alumnae should have known that the situation was dire. The difference, as they will find out, is that the school needed bodies and real dollars as opposed to pledges and moral support. The current campaign will be equally long on pledges and short of spendable cash.
^^^Sadly, I think that’s the case exactly.
While the landscape while continue to change, IMO there will always be a need for quality, private LACs. Some students just need “small.” They may go on to mega-state U for graduate work, but the undergraduate experience of small classes, close friendships, personal relationships with professors, no TAs, etc. is a crucial developmental step for some students. (I went from a total undergrad of 1,900, to graduate school at a university of 50,000.)
And as long as students value the LAC experience, they will want a range of choice from Sewanee to Barnard, from Berea to Occidental.
While I know very little about Sweet Briar, my guess is that they remained complacent for too long. It’s a shame. They have some significant strengths: an excellent facility, great faculty, an engaged & supportive alumni network. Suppose, for example, they had merged with an urban LAC, and started a 2/2 program where you spend 2 years on each campus. Or a joint degree program with an international university, such as the unique program between St. Andrews and W&M.
There were alternatives to closing out there. Sweet Briar’s leadership failed them.
2012 but also with a comment about 2009 http://www.wsls.com/story/20862216/cutbacks-planned-at-sweet-briar-college This was brewing for a longer while than many realize.
@MidwestDad3, an urban LAC was going to merge with SBC and start a 2+2 program because . . . . why? Out of the kindness of their heart? They want to disrupt their current environment massively and anger current students and alums?
And why would any international university want to start a program with a tiny LAC in an isolated part of VA when there is no shortage of more well-known American universities and colleges to partner with?
With the PhD glut it would seem possible to change their fin model to one of lower cost structure, slightly larger classes and less tuition discounting. Offer all current staff the option to work for the next 2 years at much lower pay–half for faculty and maybe 2/3 for the staff. Also reconsider tenure.
@barrons Yes, I could see that.
Also, do not accept incoming students for fall (in other words, no class of 2019). Regroup. Allow any upperclass students who want to, to stay and graduate with a reduced course selection. Begin accepting limited classes for 2020 and beyond. If the alumni continues to come through, then grow accordingly.
Would not suggest this if their endowment weren’t so large, relatively speaking.
@purple titan Because perhaps the urban LAC or international university has a corresponding need for change, as well. I am not saying this would be easy. But there are thousands of universities out there, domestic and international.
Maybe this has already been done, and pardon me if it has, but it might be helpful if the SB trustees & administration thoroughly explained what options they did and did not consider, and why.
@MidwestDad3, I think if you think it through, you’d come to the conclusion that there is no such white knight. “Perhaps” is not a plan. I heavily doubt that there is an institution who’s corresponding need for change would involve forming a 2+2 partnership with a college with SBC’s characteristics.
Half pay for faculty?? How much do you think they make? For full profs, the median is about 73K, associates at 59, 900 and assistants at 49500.
@Purple Titan, I don’t have a plan. But “perhaps” is where some solutions begin to take shape. You have heavy doubts. Fine. But hundreds of alums are mobilizing to seek a way to keep it open.
Suppose, for example, a college like New School University were to offer complete cross-registration, etc. with SBC. Or, say, a Hobart & William Smith type of arrangement, but in 2 locations instead of one. My D was encouraged to look at SBC. She declined because although, in her view, the college had strengths, its limitations outweighed the strengths. What if they had been able to address some of those limitations through a partnership?
@skrlvr Presumably, half pay would be for half the work. Fewer, and smaller classes while the college gets back on its feet.
It may not have been logical to have another college merge with SBC and continue to have a LAC in that location over the long-term. However, I think it might have been logical that another private LAC in Virginia would have been willing to merge with them to provide a less painful transition to the current students (who could have stayed together), to obtain some of their accreditations and program certifications, to develop relationships with their alum, to be able to pick up some of their faculty, and to be able to sell their thousands of acres of land (while keeping a token amount of land and buildings for a satellite campus).
The college’s remaining endowment should have been sufficient for the merged college to have paid off the debts and continued to maintain financial aid. There probably would have been fewer legal restrictions on use of the endowment with a merger than with a closing.
Even if the Sweetbriar campus would have still been closed in a year or two, it would have been less of an emotional hit for everyone, and provided more opportunity for the current students and alum to start to develop a connection to the merged college.
For example, with churches, a merger of two shrinking finally-stressed congregations can often result in a revitalized medium-sized church, with a greater ability to be sustainable. The resulting church also can free themselves of the high costs of maintaining some of their old building stock.
Well, the merger thing seems to have been x-ed off the list for some reasons. Or it’s not being spoken of. What could have worked was to make it a satellite of, say, UVa (and we know they didn’t bite) as a specialty campus for creative arts, writing, environmental studies, local culture and whatever. But would that pull 600 kids? I don’t think so. At the very least, it would have taken time to absorb the notion into the UVa culture. And the point is, they still have the ongoing expenses to physically maintain the place, plus staff it. With the church example, it acknowledges some reduced core of folks who still want to worship. Usually an ongoing pool of fixed folks, that may grow. SB’s issue was getting a sufficient number of kids to float the boat- getting enough inflow annually and getting kids to stick.
What private in Va would need this merger? I’m still convinced they have some idea what can happen next. Not only do they have a number of issues to contend with (the size, the will, the existence of two semi-autonomous functions, the farm and the riding center, plus it looks like they own the VCCA property,) but the board voted unanimously. Perhaps they have a user or two in the wings, but can’t reveal until the AG has his/her say.
I know what they make and also know the very low COL in the area and the likely lack of great alt employment fro many of them. Would they like it–no but they can survive and maybe get the place back on its feet. If not new people would still be ready to work for what they could pay. Much better than adjunct money.
Did the faculty at SBC have any collective bargaining rights? It might be harder to do than one would think, unless the college declared financial exigency—and that would almost certainly lower their bond rating still further, creating different issues.
No. None.Not much for unions in these parts.
Was this link posted here before? http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/03/the-unfortunate-fate-of-sweet-briars-professors/387376/?utm_source=btn-facebook-pin
Only 20M of the endowment is unrestricted. The land is completely tied up legally. It isn’t clear if it can even be sold off, or if title will somehow have to be transferred to an appropriate not-for-profit organization.
The more I learn, the more I agree with the board.
Skrlvr those are averages which include research universities. Salaries ar LACs are substantially lower