The conclusion of 2024 state legislative sessions brought news of additional measures to limit higher education institutions' ability to offer initiatives focused on creating inclusion and belonging. In addition, and of particular impact on Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA) members, several states and institutions that…

This article studies a sample of displaced workers during the deep 1990s recession in Sweden and estimates the effect of secondary-level adult education on tertiary-level educational attainment. Plant closures and mass layoffs are used to identify job separations unrelated to individual productivity. Results indicate a large positive effect of…

Friday May 8, 2020 saw the release of the most disastrous monthly jobs report in American economic history. In this piece, the authors try to examine three issues for higher education institutions and students in New England. First, what is the magnitude of job losses in New England compared with the rest of the nation. Second, how have the…

At a time when universities internationally participate in continual processes of restructuring, repositioning and reprioritising, calls for 'voluntary' redundancy among teaching and learning staff become frequent events. Australian and New Zealand academics, whose stories inform this study, have, particularly, been made subject to severance,…

Higher education is essential to the acquisition of human knowledge, development of the economy and reformation of the society in all nations. University education is the foremost source of providing the required knowledge that will help generate and accelerate knowledge flow for modern based economies. It plays invaluable roles in the production…

The numbers were already bad, and they keep getting worse, for the Dallas County Community College District (DCCCD). Given the weak economy, administrators planned for a 5 percent reduction in state funding in the 2010-11 academic year. The actual reduction ballooned to more than 7.5 percent, an additional $13 million that DCCCD would be forced to…

This article describes how out-of-work miners are engaged in the Empowering Education Initiative, a unique alliance between Country Music Television (CMT) and community colleges in Appalachia. The initiative, which includes a website and a series of country music concerts, is changing the conversation in the Appalachian region, giving hope to…

Like many states, Minnesota has incurred large budget deficits during the past two years. Those deficits have, in turn, led to changes in a number of areas of state government, particularly higher education. Faculty have incurred pay freezes and layoffs, programs have closed, and tuition increased. Campuses within the MnSCU system have been…

Since 2008, Italian universities have seen their budgets slashed by 14 percent. And in late 2010 the Italian government passed a law that drastically reduced the number of contract university workers, effectively laying off thousands of postdocs, assistants, researchers, and lecturers. The law also included a planned decrease in the number of…

In uncertain economic times, universities have taken steps to address financial problems by including the use of business models. In 2009, the California State University (CSU) system implemented furloughs of a 10% pay reduction and 18 days removed from the academic calendar. Faculty in 16 CSU schools of social work participated in a Web-based…

The "Great Recession" of 2009 has brought an unprecedented level of financial chaos to public higher education in America. Programs are being reduced, furloughs and layoffs are widespread, class sizes are increasing, sections are being cut, and students can't get into classes needed for graduation. Reports of budget cuts in public…

In spring 2010, institution-wide budget cuts resulted in several layoffs at Framingham State University (FSU), including the position of Associate Dean of the Division of Graduate and Continuing Education (DGCE). In his position as the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of DGCE, Scott Greenberg asked their Vice President for…

In January 2009, every day brought another piece of discouraging economic news: Rising unemployment. New stock market lows. More layoffs. Retailer liquidations. Urgent company requests for government stimulus money. The recession has created a radical shift in traditional fundraising. The shift is due to a simple case of supply and demand. Faced…

In fall 2009, this author participated in mass protests in California against tuition increases, furloughs, state budget cuts, and mass layoffs of schoolteachers, faculty members, and other public-sector workers. He states that what was so inspiring about these demonstrations was their formation of a new model of coalition politics. Taking the…

The great majority of institutions, public and private, are looking toward 2009-10 and beyond, in anticipation of the deepest budget cuts in more than a generation--and certainly deeper than at any time in the memory of most current campus leaders. In the current recession, even financially well-positioned independents with substantial numbers of…