Emporia State University continues to lose students while the rest of the higher education system in Kansas reports enrollment increases in data released Wednesday by the Kansas Board of Regents.
KU saw 6.7% enrollment growth this fall semester. A 12.5% enrollment drop at Emporia State University followed faculty dismissals and academic program upheaval.
An investigation into Emporia State University’s realignment plan, which included the firing of tenured professors, faults the university for “shifting and incoherent rationales” and concludes university administrators and Kansas Board of Regents members are “unfit to lead.”
”We asked Emporia State University a simple question. After breaking the law in responding to us, the school now wants a preposterous ransom to answer it,” Clay Wirestone writes in this Kansas Reflector column.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression has questioned the decision by Emporia State University to fire journalism professor Max McCoy two days after criticizing the university in an opinion article published by Kansas Reflector.
Emporia State University plans to eliminate some majors as part of a large-scale restructuring approved by the Kansas Board of Regents. Faculty at other state universities say the move could have long-term consequences for higher education.
The Kansas Board of Regents endorsed a request Wednesday by Emporia State University administrators to initiate a process of transforming the campus workforce and realigning academic offerings to address harsh financial and enrollment trends.
Emporia State University’s proposal for dealing with financial strains identifies reasons the school will use to get rid of tenured professors, including market considerations, enrollment, revenue and employee conduct. Faculty members have concerns.
