The College of Saint Elizabeth, a Roman Catholic institution in Morristown, N.J., is eliminating 17 faculty positions and is exploring other options, including allowing men to attend its traditional undergraduate division, to deal with what it describes as “serious financial problems,” the Daily Record, a local newspaper, reported. The college, founded by the Sisters of Charity as a women’s liberal-arts college in 1899, already admits men to its graduate and continuing-education divisions.
The college cut 14 staff jobs last year. Ten of the faculty positions that will be eliminated this year are full time, and six of those are held by nuns who belong to the Sisters of Charity. At the start of 2015, nuns will hold only two of the college’s 64 full-time teaching positions, according to Deborah McCreery, vice president for institutional advancement. The sisters whose jobs are being cut held full-time contracts but have been teaching part time, Ms. McCreery said. All were offered adjunct positions, and all will maintain their offices and a presence on the campus.
Some lay professors said they were distressed that the job cuts did not appear to be guided by a clear vision for the campus and could be detrimental to its Catholic identity. Helen J. Streubert, appointed in 2013 as the college’s first lay president, told the Daily Record that the college’s actions had been focused on strengthening academic programs.
