Week in Review: Hampshire College to shutter, others at risk

Most clicked story of the week:

Hampshire College, in Massachusetts, will shutter after the fall semester as it “no longer has the resources to sustain full operations and meet our regulatory responsibilities,” according to President Jenn Chrisler.

The pending closure brings an end to the private liberal arts institution’s yearslong quest to balance its budget and reach financial sustainability.

Number of the week: 175

The number of faculty to whom Syracuse University has offered early retirement packages, as the private New York institution looks to preemptively pare down costs.

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The offer went to faculty who have worked at Syracuse for at least 35 years and teach in programs that either have low enrollment or that the university recently slated for closure.Those accepting the buyout offer would retire in August.

Downsizing and closure risks:

• Walla Walla Community College voted to close its Clarkston, Washington, campus in 2028 amid rising costs. The college is facing a $4.3 million budget shortfall, and shuttering the satellite campus is expected to save $3.2 million annually, according to college leaders.
• The Massachusetts Department of Higher Education flagged Anna Maria College as a closure riskafter being unable to verify if the private institution had the resources needed to operate. Anna Maria is working with the state to solidify a contingency plan in case the college needs to downsize significantly.
• Anna Maria is hardly alone. A new report from the Huron Consulting Group found that 442 nonprofit, four-year colleges — a quarter of the U.S. total — are at risk of closing or being forced to merge over the next decade.

College leadership changes:

• University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue announced his intention to retire after four years in the position. The 79-year-old Perdue said he will stay on until the USG board names his replacement.
• University of Michigan’s president-elect, Kent Syverud, said he will no longer be able to fill the position following a brain cancer diagnosis. The public flagship will restart its presidential search process, and Domenico Grasso, who was selected as interim president in May, will continue to lead the institution through that process. The university has also removed the “interim” from Grasso’s title, according to MLive.com.
• Two other public colleges elevated their interim presidents to the position permanently last week — Commonwealth University, in Pennsylvania, and Jackson State University, in Mississippi.

Quote of the week:

There’s 40 companies out here who will hand you a business card and say they can put [an AI] tutor in every class. It’s not quite that easy.

John Woods

Provost and chief academic officer at the University of Phoenix

At the annual ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego last week, Woods warned higher ed leaders against buying artificial intelligence products en masse and expecting them to automatically solve institutional challenges. Instead, colleges need to be strategic in both their purchasing and implementation of AI, he said.