Cuts coming to Columbia College

Columbia College administrators will recommend ending some academic programs, and eliminating some faculty and administrative positions.

The private S.C. women’s college will recommend an unspecified number of cuts to its board at its Dec. 15 meeting. Interim provost Carol Moore declined to identify how many jobs may be affected before the board’s discussion.

“This is just a process that colleges and universities go through every few years,” she said. Some under-enrolled courses that “students lose interest in” will be discontinued and other departments streamlined, Moore said, allowing the school to “strengthen services that are in demand.”

Even if some programs are discontinued, “We have an obligation to see those students through to graduation, so they won’t see any immediate changes,” Moore said.

Tenure-track professors also will be given one-year notice that their positions are being eliminated.

In recent years, the school’s average number of women residential students has declined to 640 from about 800. Total enrollment is 1,600 if online, evening and graduate studies – which include men – are included.

The school recently dropped its tuition by almost $10,000.

This story was originally published December 6, 2016 at 5:02 PM with the headline "Cuts coming to Columbia College."