Geneva College Announces 5% Budget Cuts

BEAVER FALLS, PA (08/19/2014)(readMedia)-- After a review by the Board of Trustees, Geneva College has approved a proposal to reduce spending at the College by five percent. Downsizing the college's budget is part of an ongoing effort to keep a Geneva College education affordable for students and their families. Working toward long-term, prudent stewardship, faculty leaders and college administrators reviewed program and personnel expenditures to identify cost containment priorities culminating in the five percent reduction reviewed by the Board of Trustees on August 15 to be implemented immediately.

The cost containment plan will impact 14 employees. Geneva is discontinuing three faculty members at the end of the 2014-15 academic year, and laying off 11 members of the staff, who will have varying departure dates based on departmental needs. Geneva will phase out the following academic programs: graduate programs in Special Education and Reading; the graduate and undergraduate program in Cardiovascular Sciences; and undergraduate majors in Music Performance and Biblical Languages. The College will discontinue the Semester in Rome Program after the 2014/2015 school year and will offer the Adult Degree Program's Christian Ministries program in a face-to-face classroom format only (the online version will be eliminated). All students currently enrolled in these programs will be able to complete their respective degrees at Geneva College.

President Ken Smith said, "We are making these moves with deep regret. We recognize the value these individuals have brought to our community and so today's actions are difficult."

He continued, "We are committed to adapting today in order to provide a high-quality Christian education for tomorrow. The challenges in higher education will continue, and so will our strategy to be good stewards of the resources which God has provided to us."

Cost-containment is essential because prices for higher education have risen dramatically. The cost reduction plan advances Geneva's commitment to student affordability, including a tuition rate freeze for the 2014/15 school year. "Today's actions are one more step in this commitment," noted President Ken Smith.

The tough decisions announced today also reflect a deep commitment to advance the work of the college. Toward that end, the college has filled open faculty positions in communications, engineering, business, and counseling this summer, and is starting new programs in Criminal Justice and Biomedical Engineering. And Alexander Dining Hall was completely renovated over the summer months through generous donations.

Geneva College invites students to step forward and leap ahead with an academically excellent, Christ-centered and affordable education. Offering nearly 40 undergraduate majors, Adult Degree Programs with fully online and campus-based options, and high-demand advanced graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. U.S. News & World Report ranks Geneva as a Top 10 Best Value with one of the Top 100 engineering programs in the nation. Adhering to the inerrancy of Scripture, a Geneva education is grounded in God's word as well as in a core curriculum designed to prepare students vocationally to think, write and communicate well in today's world.

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