‘Innovative solutions’ pledged to changing times
A nationwide college financial crisis recently came calling in Platte County when Park University officials announced the elimination of several degree programs amid faculty lay-offs at the private institution.
The cuts resulted from studies by senior Park leadership with input from a “comprehensive university-wide review of expenditures, programs and growth opportunities,” according to information contained in an email from Park leadership to a Landmark reporter.
The plan, adopted to help balance the university’s budget when colleges nationwide are facing declining enrollment and budget shortages, calls for eliminating 16 faculty positions, three graduate degree programs, three bachelor’s degree concentrations, two certificate programs and seven minors, according to an email from the school’s strategic communications office.
The email announced college officials will have no further comment about the cuts.
The plan, adopted amid institutions nationwide facing “challenges to enrollment since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic” and in response to “more competition than ever before…as demographic changes are leading to a smaller pool of high school graduates.”
Park officials acknowledge these “realities,” stated an email from Brad Biles, director of communications and public relations in response to an email from a Landmark reporter inquiring about the planned cuts.
Although the cuts call for the elimination of the “Master of Arts in Security Studies, Master of Education in Language and Literacy and Master of Social Work,” the email states the plan will allow students currently enrolled in the affected degree programs to finish their degrees through a “teach out,” which provides a timeline for the completion of these courses. The process calls for students to complete master’s degree programs by summer 2025 and summer 2027 for affected bachelor’s degrees and minors.
In addition, most of the 16 current faculty members whose positions are being eliminated will continue to teach through the summer of 2024, the email explains.
Those in affected graduate programs received an individualized letter, which included instructions on whom to contact to address questions. Affected undergraduate students have received information from the registrar’s office.
Park, which has a lot of international students and active and retired military, is continuing to hire faculty in high-growth programs, such as cybersecurity, and information systems and business analytics,” the email states.
“Park University anticipates hiring three faculty over a 12-month period in these high-growth programs.”
The cuts also include reducing 15 campus locations throughout the country where most students gather off campus but are instructed via faculty remotely. None of the Kansas City area’s three “Pirate Patch” remote locations (downtown Kansas City, Independence, and Lenexa) will be eliminated, according to the email.
However, the Park email did not state which locations would be closed. An article in the online news site The Kansas City Beacon points out that a map on the Park website lists 24 campuses in 16 states and does not include locations at Fort Leonard Wood and Whiteman Air Force Base. These locations were still listed as distance locations as recently as this past September, according to the Beacon.
The Park email announces the advent of “flat-rate tuition,” which provides “the lowest of all private institutions in the Kansas City region” and “encourages Park’s student-learners to graduate sooner without incurring significant debt.”
Online discussions by some who identified as current Park students, claim that Park, like other colleges nationwide, has become too expensive and student debt loads are having long term adverse financial impacts.
“People are getting smarter,” one post states, adding they “don’t want to be in debt their entire lives for a pointless degree that won’t get them a decent job.” In another comment, the writer states he believes this trend will “sadly become the new norm.”
An online search of publications aimed at administrators in higher education reveals evidence of other universities facing budget constraints. The Chronicle of Higher Education recently announced that the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will cut 30 full-time positions amid a $12 million shortfall. The plans stop short of eliminating academic programs, but officials state the action may be necessary in the future.
The same publication also has an article about an Arkansas university that points to “dire” finances leading the U.S. Department of Education to provide the university with a deadline to “secure $12 million in credit or lose access to federal aid.” The article states the Henderson State in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, planned to eliminate 67 faculty members, 44 of whom are tenured. Plans also call for cutting 25 degree programs following instability that “resulted in hiring freezes, spending cuts, and budget deficits and adds that administrators agreed to declare a state of financial exigency…a step that allows the institution to quickly eliminate academic programs and personnel.”
As for Park, it’s unclear when the cuts mentioned in the email were first announced to students in the affected studies. The email states that master’s students received letters from the university announcing the changes and their impacts. The changes were written about in mid-November in The Kansas City Beacon.
The Park email mentions the university’s upcoming 150th anniversary in 2025, which Biles has mentioned during previous interviews with a Landmark reporter, where he stated officials are planning a series of special events to mark the significant date. The email about the cuts states the university will “continue transforming lives well beyond the anniversary.”
The email continues: “Park University’s history has been punctuated by resilience in response to challenges. Park will rise to the occasion and develop innovative solutions to fulfill its mission of transforming lives through accessible, student-centered, quality higher education.”