Lasell University will eliminate majors in global studies, sociology, English and history, all in the liberal arts. The university will also eliminate its major in fitness management, The Boston Globe reported.
Four faculty members have been told their contracts will not be renewed for the 2024–25 academic year, and several open faculty positions will not be filled, former president Michael Alexander said in a June 28 email to the university community. An additional 12 staff positions have been eliminated. (Alexander left office July 1.)
“These decisions are the most difficult that the Board of Trustees and I ever have to make, because they affect our valued colleagues and friends,” wrote Alexander, who led the university for 16 years. “Yet, they are essential to prepare us for the demographic changes we know are coming, to position us for sustained growth, and to protect Lasell’s long-term financial future.”
The university, in Massachusetts, enrolled 1,236 undergraduates and 392 graduate students in fall 2022. Undergraduate enrollment fell 15.4 percent between fall 2011 and fall 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
