Florida Memorial, facing enrollment decline, looks at cutting back degree programs, staff
To stabilize itself after a 10-year decline in enrollment, Florida Memorial University will examine 15 of its about 40 undergraduate curriculum programs next week and consider a “serious examination” of staffing levels, FMU President Jaffus Hardrick announced in an email to the university community Monday morning.
In August, for the first time in a decade, the Miami Gardens university, the only Historically Black College and University in South Florida, increased its year-over-year number of registered students, from 915 students to 963 students.
But that has not been enough to offset the decade-long trend of declining enrollment; the school’s enrollment went from 1,878 students in 2012 to 915 in 2021, a 51-percent falloff.
The enrollment decline has led to a steady decline in tuition revenue, Hardrick wrote in his memo. To mitigate the impact, FMU will cut costs.
“Although, the University’s fall enrollment exceeded more than 960 students, thus surpassing the original goal of 850, we are not yet at a sustainable enrollment level,” Hardrick said. “Therefore, the budget must be adjusted, which requires a serious examination of operations, staffing, and program enrollment.”
FMU employs 228 full-time people and 48 part time.
Board of Trustees to meet Monday
The 23-member FMU Board of Trustees will meet Monday, Nov. 22, to decide which programs to scrap and which to revamp.
In June, FMU’s accreditation body, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, put the school on “probation for good cause.” The decision came after two years of being under “monitoring” for failing to comply with all of the necessary standards, a problem rooted in financial difficulties.
The university has 28 undergraduate degree programs, but some degrees have different concentrations, which amount to about 40 curriculum tracts. FMU offers five graduate degree programs, but none stand to be eliminated, said Adrienne Cooper, FMU’s vice provost of institutional research and effectiveness.
FMU will not disclose which undergraduate programs could be affected until after its Board of Trustees votes on it, said Sharee Gilbert, FMU’s director of communications and marketing.
The process could involve some layoffs, but it’s unknown how many. Any detailed discussion at this point would be speculative, Gilbert said.
FMU took recommendations from the United Negro College Fund and its accreditation body. In the spring, the private school hired Gray Associates, a strategy consulting firm in higher education, which also studied the issue.
An opportunity to innovate, FMU provost says
With the help from the outside consultants, FMU looked at what other higher education institutions offer, as well as labor market demands, its own enrollment numbers for each program and how much it costs to maintain each.
The university administration concluded it must “consider consolidating, revamping, and/or eliminating some of the current degree programs that are under-performing,” Hardrick wrote.
The chairman of the FMU Board of Trustees, William C. McCormick Jr., said the board will look at the data and do what’s in the best interest of the university.
“We have a very capable selection of professionals who understand when tough decisions sometimes may not be popular but they are what’s best,” he said. “I’m very confident that the members of the current board understand we have to do what is right.”
Even if that includes some reductions on staff, he said.
“The direction we want to take the university, to a culture of excellence, is now in full effect,” he said. “And unfortunately some people will be with us, and some people will not be with us.”
FMU will support those students enrolled at any of the curriculum tracts that do get phased out, said Jacqueline Hill, FMU’s provost and executive vice president.
If students are registered for a major but are still taking general education classes, FMU will suggest similar tracts they can transfer to or consider a different field of study, which may be new. If they are already taking major-specific courses, FMU will continue to offer the classes they need until they graduate.
Hill said she sees this as a chance to innovate.
“It’s about the re-imagining, and really trying to get a better fit for the type of students that we have, and where we are in regards to our academic landscape,” she said.
“With all of the new programs that are out there — cybersecurity and big data and data science and gaming animation — those are really hot majors that are out there in other institutions. Now, here at Florida Memorial, we’re taking this opportunity to enhance our menu of academic programs,” she added.
This story was originally published November 15, 2021 at 5:50 PM.
