After months of review and in-depth analysis, the University of Lynchburg announced a university-wide transformation today that will best address the needs of students and optimize the staff working experience, positioning the institution most effectively for the future.
Today’s rapidly evolving higher education landscape is forcing colleges and universities across the nation to face challenges they never have before — steadily declining birth rates that mean fewer college-aged students nationwide, the Federal Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) crisis impacting student financing, and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic that will likely shape the state of education for the next several years.
Due to these and other factors, Lynchburg is closing 12 undergraduate programs and five graduate programs, impacting a total of 4.5% of students. Currently, 70% of undergraduate students are studying in eight majors, and 95% of students are in 21. The University offers 51 majors.
Students currently in these programs will be able to complete their degrees. All closed programs will be taught out over the next three to four years.
Additionally, changes in University leadership have dropped the executive team from nine vice presidents to five, merging areas as the university as a whole is reimagined.
The program closures and structural changes, however, mean the immediate reduction of less than 10% of university staff (about 40 positions) and the realignment, over the next three years, of another 40 faculty positions.
While there is little immediate impact on faculty, as a number of the job reductions will be managed through retirements, attrition, or reassignments to other areas, staff impact is immediate. Those affected will receive severance, career support, health insurance, and counseling to make their transition as smooth as possible.
Dr. Alison Morrison-Shetlar, president of the University of Lynchburg, affirmed how much she values the tremendous contributions of these faculty and staff and that the university will support them in any way it can as they transition to new careers.
In a video released earlier today, she said, “Other schools are cutting programs, and, for the sake of our future, we must too. But we are going a step further. For the sake of our people — our students, faculty, and staff — we are restructuring our entire university around them.”
This renewed focus on student and employee experience is at the heart of Lynchburg’s transformation. The changes announced today will allow the university to provide a richer, more valuable experience for students and position it to thrive in a fast-changing and extremely challenging academic climate that is affecting colleges and universities across the country.
