Christian Brothers University faces major deficit, plans to cut $4M from operating budget
In recent years, Christian Brothers University has faced significant challenges.
Since the 2018-19 academic year, its undergraduate student headcount has consistently declined, and in fall 2023, it failed to meet goals for first-time freshman enrollment. Credit hour production from traditional undergraduate students has decreased over the last five years, and on-campus housing occupancy ― as well as related auxiliary revenue ― has dropped over the last four.
Because of factors like these, CBU is poised to face a projected deficit of between $5 million and $7 million by the end of 2024. And to prevent this type of shortfall, the 150-year-old university is taking drastic steps, with plans to cut its operating budget by $4 million.
“We have reached a critical time for our university if we wish to continue this work for another 150 years,” CBU said in a community statement released online. “We must restore our financial viability and reallocate our programs and resources to provide the promise of college that our mission requires, and act with determination and transparency to build a sustainable university for the future.”
Financial exigency, and what it could mean
After consulting the academic council and his cabinet, CBU President David Archer has recommended a condition of financial exigency, which has been approved by the school’s Board of Trustees, and means extraordinary measures are necessary to balance the budget.
CBU is set to make budget cuts campus-wide, and as it prepares to do this, it’s expected to establish a retrenchment committee, which will be comprised of the planning committee, a board trustee, two faculty members, and the senior director of externals and donor relations. This committee is set to advise the president on what should be slashed from the budget, and what should stay.
“The Retrenchment Committee shall recommend to the President a coordinated program of academic and non-academic services which will allow the University to continue to fulfill its mission in as effective a way as possible,” the university said in a Q&A section on its website.
Possible job losses
Exactly what will be cut from the budget remains unclear, but it’s possible that departments and programs ― particularly those that have relatively few majors or aren’t essential to the university’s mission and goals ― could get the ax.
And faculty members ― including tenured ones ― could lose their posts. The Q&A section cites the faculty handbook, which notes that, if it becomes necessary to release faculty, the retrenchment committee will determine the number of contracted faculty that should be terminated across the campus, to “relieve the state of exigency.”
The committee would also meet with CBU’s academic council, to establish the number to be laid off in each of the university’s schools. The deans of the school would then meet with the department chairs, to determine which faculty members should lose their positions.
But just how would the deans and department chairs determine who stays and who goes?
They’re expected to retain faculty using the following criteria:
Tenure or status as a Christian Brother;
Merit, versatility, seniority;
The goals of the university regarding numbers of women, women religious, and members of minority groups.
“It is not intended that across-the-board terminations be made,” the Q&A section said, “But that each one involves rational judgments of what is possible, equitable, and the least damaging to the mission of the University."
While certain departments and programs could be cut, active students and freshman who enroll at CBU in fall 2024 are still expected to be supported in completing degrees included in the current academic catalog, regardless of future changes to academic programs. Academic scholarships for current students aren’t set to be cut or reduced, and student work study jobs are should still be available.
CBU also maintains that the move won’t affect its accreditation, as it’s working with its institutional accrediting body, the SACSCOC, to ensure it remains in good standing.
And the university asserts that it isn’t closing.
“We are taking these extraordinary actions to ensure that CBU continues as a flourishing and prosperous four-year establishment for the foreseeable future,” it said in the Q&A section.
Colleges across the country
Amid a changing higher education landscape, CBU isn’t the only institution that’s declared financial exigency. In May 2022, Inside Higher Ed reported that Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, took the drastic step, and planned to lay off 67 faculty members.
About a year later, the Des Moines Register reported that Upper Iowa University had also declared the condition, citing declining enrollment and a need to increase its cash on hand.
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And in an article for Forbes, Michael Nietzel, the former president of Missouri State University, said that an increasing number of schools have taken the step over the past two decades.
“At least 10 of those instances have been since 2020, spurred by the effects of the pandemic,” wrote Nietzel, who is also the co-author of the upcoming book Colleges on the Brink: The Case for Financial Exigency. “We think more colleges will be forced to do so in the coming years.”
John Klyce covers education and children's issues for The Commercial Appeal. You can reach him at John.klyce@commercialappeal.com
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: CBU in Memphis faces financial issues, plans to cut $4M from budget
