By ABBY BRAVO
Editor-In-Chief
Administrators and the Board of Trustees officially announced to employees on Friday, April 5 that they are unable to provide severance pay or any further healthcare benefits to any faculty or staff after the June 30 date of the school’s closure.
Board of Trustees President Jeffery Stone sent a statement to faculty and staff stating “at this time, the Board is unable to commit to any of the options presented as there is no funding to support them.” He continued, “The Board’s financial advisors have determined that the College will expend nearly all its cash resources, including its unrestricted endowment, by June 30.”
This raised even more questions from employees about where exactly the rest of the money is going and why resources are not being used to fairly compensate them.
Co-Chair of RepCom Liz Richards requested answers in writing from the administration to questions regarding money and what the rest of the funds are being used for as well as addressing the College’s physical assets like computers, furniture, and buildings.
Questions sent to administrators include who is staying past June 30 and what their pay will be, where the money from selling assets like buildings are going, as well as what the rest of the endowment and other college funds are being used for.
As of April 16 administration has yet to respond to the questions sent by Richards.
Faculty said that answers would provide a lot of clarity for employees, but many are not hopeful. “I just think they are going to ignore [the questions] if I’m being honest,” said Ryane Straus, who wrote most of the questions sent to the Board.
Now, employees are left worried about finding new jobs to take care of their families, finding affordable health insurance, and making sure their students are supported in tandem. “What we’re trying to do, as always, is to prepare our students for whatever their next steps are,” said Richards.
Richards cited the faculty handbook that states employees need to be given one year’s notice if their contracts were not going to be renewed, but due to the college’s closure this was not the case. While this is not illegal under these circumstances, she referred to it as an ethical issue. “If they were going to meet their ethical obligation to us they would pay us through the end of the calendar year,” she said.
Yet, the reality is that after June 30 employees are on their own. “My stomach is in knots because I’m worried about health insurance,” said Straus, as most have accepted the loss and do not expect the administration to give many answers or benefits.
Stone concluded the statement saying “the Board has pledged to continue to explore alternative funding sources, and will provide an update if circumstances change,” but many are not hopeful for either a change in their decision or responses to many unanswered questions.
“If they don’t respond I’m not going to be surprised either, we are in the last few weeks of the life of the college so, we’ll see,” said Richards.
The College gave no further information besides the statement from Stone.
