The College Fix

Talk about a night of the long knives.

George Washington University slaughtered 46 staff positions with no warning, making fired staffers leave the building without even a chance to say goodbye, The GW Hatchet reports:

Members of the Staff Association said that 10 percent of the 300 positions in the Division of Information Technology were terminated, according to reports they received from University officials. Staff members said other departments that were hit included development, human resources and Gelman Library. They ranged from regular staff positions to director-level and vice president-level spots, and some of those laid off were employees who had been at GW for as long as 30 years, they said.

It’s because GW sucks at getting grad students:

University President Steven Knapp said at a Faculty Senate meeting Friday that GW cut positions within the central administration by 5 percent as part of efforts to reduce expenses. Other administrative lines that haven’t been filled were cut as well. All departments across the University have been asked to strip about 5 percent from their budgets. …

Knapp said the University is now relying on fundraising efforts after two years of missed revenue projections because of declining graduate student enrollment. GW relies on tuition to cover 75 percent of its costs, while donations help fund most of the rest. …

GW has historically lagged behind its peers in terms of how much it can pull in annually through donations, and the current campaign marks the first time it has aimed to raise $1 billion. The University’s development arm raised just $84 million in 2009, and the alumni donor rate has hovered at the relatively low rate of about 10 percent a year.

The school remains tight-lipped on what was eliminated, how many slots were already vacant or “how GW will help those who lost their jobs to transition,” the paper said.

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