With concerns about potential program and job cuts, Emporia State administrators spent time on KVOE’s ESU Buzz discussing some of the benefits of the Workforce Management Policy framework submitted to the Kansas Board of Regents for approval and the need for changes at ESU.
Senior Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Nyk Robertson says the public focus may well be on the program and staffing adjustments, but the overall goal is better education for students.
Wednesday’s announcement by ESU highlighted an emphasis on programs students want — and, in some cases, need — for their on-campus experience and post-campus success. Robertson highlighted the BRIDGE program — for Building Relationships, Inclusion, Diversity and Global Equity — that had almost 30 first-generation students move in a week early to help their transition to campus life. The program is expanding to transfer students next year, and Robertson says the debut went well.
The emphasis on new programs also includes activities and events on campus, including Friday’s Fiesta on the Square, the overall Friday Nights event schedule and concerts like the upcoming one involving pop star Jesse McCartney, as well as current ventures like Corky’s Cupboard.
Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Success Shelly Gehrke says the policy also includes ways to get more students on campus, like the expansion of in-state tuition across the lower 48 states.
The Buzz followed Wednesday’s official announcement to use KBOR’s Workforce Management Policy, created in January 2021, to help ESU be a “forward-focused, future-ready institution.” This opens up the possibility of ending certain low-enrollment programs with associated job cuts if the Board of Regents approves, possibly as soon as the board’s meeting Sept. 14-15. President Ken Hush says these adjustments are needed, given the ever-changing landscape in education — including class offerings and a greater highlight of the total campus experience — as well as the ongoing financial effects of COVID-19 and a nearly 30-percent drop in on-campus enrollment since 2017 on top of a decline in overall enrollment over the past five to 10 years. All told, Gehrke says adjustments from the Regents let ESU take a closer look at potential adjustments on campus.
ESU’s plan is to offer “teach-out” classes for students in affected classes if the plan moves forward. It also plans to have resources available for affected faculty and staff along with an appeals process, although all those aspects are currently being developed. Should the Regents decline Emporia State’s request, Interim Provost Brent Thomas says the university will move towards other currently unspecified options to address ongoing financial and enrollment issues.
