ATLANTA – Spelman College will eliminate 35 positions, while Morehouse College will cut 25 adjunct faculty members, both belt-tightening moves sparked by the economic downturn and a drop in enrollment.
The historically Black women’s institution said in a news release Tuesday it’s reducing next year’s budget by $4.8 million. Enrollment is down 3 percent this year and the school’s endowment — fueled by investments — also took a hit. As a result, Spelman will layoff temporary employees and close the campus for one week after graduation in May.
The school will cut 12 vacant positions and 23 existing positions, and phase out its department of education in favor of a teacher certification program for the entire Atlanta University Center, which also includes Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University.
Morehouse, the historically Black men’s college within walking distance of Spelman, confirmed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution earlier this week that it will cut 25 part-time instructors, about one-third of its adjunct faculty. The school will not renew the employees’ contracts for the spring semester, officials said. Full-time Morehouse faculty and staff were not affected by the move, the newspaper states.
The decisions by Morehouse and Spelman follow an announcement by Clark Atlanta University that it will layoff 70 professors as well as cancel physical education classes for the rest of the semester. CAU students gathered in front of the president’s office Monday with petitions protesting the faculty layoffs.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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