Two more American campuses launch queen sacrifices

Earlier this week I shared two recent examples of queen sacrifices. It turns out that the week had more in store than I thought.

Today’s two queen sacrifices come from very different institutions in the American northeast.

First, New Jersey City University announced massive cuts to its academic programs along with reductions to its faculty. This begins by cutting more than one third of its offerings:

The Division of Academic Affairs will reduce its academic portfolio by 37%. To accomplish this reduction, the University is sunsetting 48 undergraduate programs, 24 minors, 28 graduate programs, 10 certificate programs, and one doctoral program.

You can find the whole list here.

Faculty cuts are part of this package: “up to 30 tenured faculty will receive notice that their position may be eliminated as of June 28, 2023. Additionally, the university will not renew the contracts of up to 19 non-tenured annually-appointed faculty…” They will also cut the positions of “some professional staff for the 2023–24 academic year.”

Why take these drastic steps? There is a major economic crisis on campus, as the announcement clearly states. “NJCU entered Fiscal Year 2023 with a structural deficit of more than $20 million and the reduction in its academic portfolio is a crucial step towards the university’s need to reach budget neutrality by June 30, 2023.” It’s a huge problem. According to Wikipedia,

In June 2022, NJCU declared financial emergency and the sought a $10 million lifeline from the state government. Henderson resigned as president of the university, effective July 1. In August, Governor Phil Murphy called for an investigation into NJCU’s dramatic change in financial standing from a surplus of $108 million in 2013 to a deficit of $67 million amid plans to expand NJCU’s campus.

So we have an emergency declaration, state intervention (remember that this is a public university), and a presidential turnover. Externally, Fitch gave the institution a weak rating. (Henderson seems to have done well, financially)

What’s behind the crisis? A Chronicle article begins by identifying student numbers: “[e]nrollment at the Jersey City institution has been…