JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Students and faculty are speaking out against Jacksonville University’s plan to eliminate some majors and lay off 40 faculty members
All of these cuts come four months after Action News Jax first told you about possible financial issues at the school.
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Action News Jax talked with one of the faculty members who received a termination notice. That person wanted to remain anonymous.
“I really believed that this was a place that believed in its mission,” said the faculty member. “And now it is so completely changing that mission. And what’s worse is they are gaslighting us into pretending like this has always been the plan.”
The school did not warn staff or even students who may no longer have a major.
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“We had no idea this could have happened,” said Nelson Davila, a junior at JU. “Nobody in our faculty knew this was coming. Our head of the department didn’t know this was coming.”
Davila has been working to get a Bachelor of Music in music performance on trombone. He graduates in nearly a year, but now his future is uncertain as JU is making cuts to his program.
“I couldn’t feel worse,” said Davila.
RELATED: JU sunsetting programs, reducing expenses as part of “Future Focused” initiative
Several other students felt the same way as they protested the cuts Wednesday.
Action News Jax sat down with Tim Cost, the President of JU. He said cost-saving measures to restructure the university meant cuts needed to be made and that only about 100 students would be affected.
However, that faculty member said there are over 100 students in his department who are affected by this.
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“Cost is wrong about the number of students affected. Wrong by a lot. He’s also in denial about being able to finish these degrees,” the faculty member said. “Adding scholarships sounds nice, but the degrees for those who stay will be worth much less. Maybe worth nothing.”
The faculty member said the degrees for those who stay will not adequately prepare them for their careers.
“Those degrees are very specialized,” said the faculty member. “And the proposal that has been put forward so far would be a very general broad degree that would not prepare them for the careers or for the graduate studies that many of them are seeking.”
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Current students said they don’t know what this means for their graduation, while faculty said it’s going to be a challenge trying to find a new job.
“Higher education generally starts the process of hiring people in the fall and concludes it right about now,” said the faculty member Action News Jax talked with. “So, if we are trying to find a position, the only ones that will be available would be ones where people left to take better jobs.
The president shared that the university is offering severance packages to all 40 faculty members and 18 full-ride scholarships to some of the students affected by the elimination of their degree program.
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