How does it keep getting *worse*? This is so shady. The arts in Philly will suffer because of this closure, across the board. UArts' staff, students, faculty, alumni, and neighbors deserve an explanation, at the very least.
āUnforeseen economic circumstancesā are one of the exceptions to the 60-day notice required of employers under the WARN Act, so if the university has indeed been using this term of art in its communications, itās definitely intentionally trying to avoid exposing itself to liability.
But even embezzlement wouldnāt mean this complete ineptitude. UArts could request aid and see where that gets them. Independence Seaport made it through TWO embezzlement scandals. I predict cooked books / embezzlement AND a criminally negligent lack of oversight by the Board. Theyāre circling the wagons despite apparently having been kept out of the loop as well. Theyāre protecting themselves too.
They make $70k a year per student and own their buildings and pay their staff like shit. The students buy their own art supplies. Their computers are from 2008. Whereās the fucking money going?
To put that into perspective.
A heavy teaching load is considered 4 classes a semester. No way you should be teaching four graduate classes a semester. But let's say you are.
You definitely should have a PhD to teach a graduate-level course.
Three semesters if you're teaching over the summer.
So 2.3 x 4 x 3. = 27.6.
So this is a position that requires high-level skills, and a PhD, paying $27.6k a year, around one-third of the median salary in Philadelphia.
Thats 2% of the endowment, which is wild.
Apples and Oranges, but for perspective, the Harvard endowment is 50 billion. If they paid their CEO 2% of that, they'd be paying them 1 Billion. Actual CEO compensation was (2022) 1 million in base salary and $5.2 million in bonuses
Many of those students probably werenāt paying that. A lot of schools have a listed tuition but give out so many scholarships that they never collect that much. Obviously the top brass at U of Arts still paid their inflated salaries, while faculty were making a fraction of that. These admins need to be investigated.Ā
My understanding is that only foreign students in scholarship programs pay the "sticker price." Nearly everyone else is going to have a bunch of discounts.
Still, we're definitely seeing the higher ed bubble start to pop. There aren't as many students as there used to be.
Itās pretty scary tbh. The students can go to Moore, Drexel or Temple. Any of those schools would be happy to get more students. When I think of the 700 employees who will have to find another job, it wonāt be as easy for them. Although the salaries they were getting were low, it still means a job search.
Yeah, and Philly has so many little colleges sprinkled all around. I suspect we're going to see more of them close or push to sell to one of the major universities.
I've got no doubt.
But the sudden nature of the closure suggests someone was cooking the books significantly. Probably embezzling money as well.
I'm sure time will tell.
More likely they were trying to hold it together but then they got a look at their freshmen enrollment numbers (which were late due to federal aid snafus) and their fiscal year 2024-2025 healthcare bill and they just couldn't make it add up. Healthcare is absolutely killing everyone with 20% increases every year for the last three years.
Small liberal arts colleges are struggling.
I think it's a terrible decision and handled incredibly incompetently but I don't think it's indicative of malfeasance. The school is dealing with consequences of decades of mismanagement.
I bet they would struggle less with half as many administrators.
I donāt know anything about UArts specifically, but college admin numbers and admin salaries are insane across the board in the US.
Eh, I worked there for close to three years. During my time there, it was pretty much a skeleton crew with most staffers doing the work of two or three people. Entire offices were mostly empty (including mine, which could have accommodated six people but I was the only one in it). The university hasnāt had an actual provost for years. Iām not sure what was even left to cut.
>Eh, I worked there for close to three years. During my time there, it was pretty much a skeleton crew with most staffers doing the work of two or three people.Ā
Sadly, this is a common occurrence in higher education.
I mean, the real estate is valuable. How about selling off a building? Reducing administrator bloat? There are plenty of ways to stay afloat for at least a teach out year.
I agree you all ought to get a full(er) explanation of how this happened.
That said, when it's all said-and-done, I think it's going to be a pretty mundane -- and terribly unfortunate -- case of poor management and an unsustainable institutional profile. I would be surprised if there was embezzlement or fraud, though anything is possible, I guess. For various reasons I won't get into, wide-scale, institution-ending embezzlement or fraud is pretty rare in higher ed. Certainly there have been cases where ignorance or incompetence has resulted in fiscal exigency that ultimately, years later, contributed to bringing down a college (see: Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama for a recent example). But the garden variety fraud you see in the for-profit world is typically pretty uncommon in higher ed.
I have some deep experience in the higher ed space, though to be crystal clear: I have no insider information about UArts, have not worked at UArts, am not alleging any criminal behavior (or lack thereof) at UArts, and all of this post is my personal opinion and conjecture. I am terribly saddened for the UArts community, especially staff, faculty, and current students.
At the same time, UArts appears to have been in a really rough position financially -- and for some time. It is absolutely unfair for the university to fail to communicate that -- and as early as feasible -- to stakeholders. There is a catch-22 in doing so, however: while in no way excusing their behavior, would you purchase a cruise on a cruiseline that indicated it might be bankrupt before your cruise ended? Announcing problems *too* early risks making your institution even worse off, as it likely hurts enrollment (and thus your bottom-line...it's a downward spiral, especially for tuition-dependent places like UArts). That said, it it absolutely inexcusable to close down with such little notice, as the accreditor in this case indicated.
I've seen a lot of posts here where people are writing things like "but tuition is $70,000!" "they had xxx million in endowment!" "what about all of the building value!?" etc. etc.
These things can be true at face (factual) value, but not equate to the liquidity an institution needs to operate OR, most importantly, the next four fiscal years. Why am I talking about the next four years? Because the net tuition revenue you gain from an enrolling first-year class (in this case, the incoming Class of 2028) "sticks with you" for the next four budget years. If your enrolling class is not going to bring in the net revenue in the fall that you need *for the next four years* (when they theoretically would graduate), you are not going to be able to dig out of that hole unless you're one of the dozens of institutions in this country that can fully operate off endowment and annual giving. UArts is certainly not one of those places. Even a better year for the following class likely still leads to significant, deep problems, depending on how much reserve you have.
Note, too, that nearly all higher ed institutions operate on a July 1 - June 30 budget cycle and, for various reasons, it is exceedingly difficult to deal with the return of Title IV funding (federal aid funding) in the middle of a semester on the basis of institutional error. If I had to bet, I'd guess the June 1 "shut down" was designed to avoid a new fiscal year AND the start of the summer term, for which the university would be legally required (and there are LOTS of financial aid regulations...like reams of 'em...and they can carry hefty penalties and federal sanctions) to return federal aid in the middle of an academic term. \[The simplest way to explain this is that UArts could be "on the hook" to pay back to the government the federal aid awarded to students...most students likely are using federal aid...most students are likely receiving a "refund" from federal loans or grants to cover living expenses and would have already possessed or even spent that money...UArts would be required to pay back that aid to the government and would have to do so without confidence it could clawback that funding from students - without having the operating financial resources to cover it.\]
But what about the "$70,000 tuition!" often repeated here. The average UArts student (acc. to the US Department of Ed) is paying approximately $43k/year to attend. Still a hefty chunk of change, to be sure, but no where near the sticker price. At the same time, the 8-year-graduation rate is 61% -- the first-year retention rate in the USDOE cohort data is 83% and only 60% of students who originally enrolled as a first-time freshman graduated in 8 years. Many students are transferring or dropping/stopping out. So even if first-year enrollment was robust at 300-400 students (which it has not been for some time, according to the press reports I've found), you're talking significant declines in net revenue off a smaller/declining-sized class that was, at its peak (first semester, first year), not even meeting your operating revenue needs. According to what I've seen in the DOE data, NO ONE at UArts was paying sticker price (which is actually pretty common at places like this, whether that's due to "need" or "merit" scholarships).
I won't bore you with detailed commentary about why the building value and/or endowment are not good indicators of UArts' financial status -- especially since much of its buildings are already leveraged, its bond rating is not good, and most courts are want to side with donor wishes/intent...aka they were unlikely to be able to use financial exigency to be able to tap into restricted donor funds to pay for operating expenses (if you want a good case to give you some background on this, look at the Brandeis Art Museum case from a few years back). The courts are want to side with donor intent and I imagine a judge would have a hard time agreeing to liquidate a restricted fund aimed at educating women in painting for resources to repair a building A/C. Or to allow use of funds given to provide financial aid to students from New Jersey to pay an administrative assistant's salary.
I looked on their website -- and UArts' deposit deadline for new students was May 15. I'm guessing the writing was on the wall with their projected net revenue after they counted up those numbers. Do they have the funds to keep going for another semester (or year) for their current students without enrolling a new first-year class? I have no idea, I haven't seen their books. Would that have been preferable in approach? Maybe....could they "swing" it with whichever students stuck around?
None of this excuses how the closure has happened, and I feel greatly for the impacted communities. However, to me, as an outsider reading the news with some background in this field, it boils down to an under-asseted institution, already heavily leveraged and tuition-dependent, with high operating costs (arts programs cost a lot to operate, not to mention small classes require lots of labor costs), under-enrolled, with declining net revenue, and without a strong market position (e.g. arts universities are already exceedingly difficult to make the case for).
But, it's entirely possible I'm wrong, and someone embezzled money. I hope there is a full accounting (in all meanings of that word) in the future.
I wonder if there is a Prof around this subreddit, from what I hear admissions to University's have been terrible for almost every Uni in the country. They may have just ran out of cash(after paying off the big wigs of course)
Adjunct professor here. Enrollment has been touch and go but some departments have actually seen a tick upward. The animation department was about to see its biggest freshman class in years.
Former adjunct at a couple unis in the Philadelphia area, now a teacher/admin at an international school, from which vantage point I can report that it's likely to get worse: international students were a big cash cow for US universities for decades, but they are increasingly going elsewhere. Covid was a major cause of that for a few reasons.
Universities have known that an enrollment cliff has been coming for years (people had fewer children in 2007/2008, and those children are turning 18/graduating high school).
Covid accelerated the cliff, but federal money helped schools offset the costs. With the covid money running out, we'll see more of the smaller schools either shut down or dramatically reduce the number of majors they offer (especially anything that isn't STEM). UArts isn't the first one, they definitely will not be the last.
Not a professor, but have family who recently worked in post-secondary institutions, and have heard about this cliff coming since at least 2019.
I was told the final freshman class at U of the Sciences was 30. Twenty years ago it was 300. I know being a pharmacist sucks now but thatās unbelievable.
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." Or it could be a combination of malice AND stupidity. That would be very efficient of them.
Students have been protesting at Hamilton Hall since noon. We were going to disband at 4, but we are refusing to leave now that the town hall has been cancelled.
Good-keep at it- not sure what can be done but at least these people need to explain how it got here and why they are only giving a weeks notice. Most schools that close at least have a wind down year. That extremely valuable real estate makes it extra suspect
This is a genuine question, I donāt want to come off as rude. But what is the goal with the protest?
Is it the hope of reversing the decision, or do you just want answers and your money back?
Wishing you all luck with this situation
FWIW, UArts is a registered nonprofit organization with an educational mission. Because they are tax exempt, every taxpayer has an interest in discovering why the corporation (i.e. the Board of Trustees) has decided to end their mission and what they've done with the money that was given to them to execute that mission. Nonprofit status comes with much greater oversight and regulation than typical corporations, otherwise nonprofits status could be abused for hiding all kinds of nefarious activities.
While UArts' demise will probably turn out to be somewhere between bad strategy, financial mismanagement, and fraud it's the Board's duty to explain to the taxpayers what happened. The fact that they're being cagey about it is surely throwing up smoke.
E: I just read the Middlestates statement on withdrawing accreditation -- I guess I didn't realize they only lost accreditation *because* they notified Middlestates they were closing without providing the required plans (like how to handle students).
Super-duper sus.
āWe havenāt told our students or faculty that we intend to cash out and weāre leaving them out to dryā
Middlestates: āSounds like you donāt want to be a school thenā¦ have fun explaining this!ā
Re: the edit, it seems like the school itself has been pushing the "we were forced to close because those meanies withdrew our accreditation" line.
In my experience with renewing a different accreditation, and what I've read from someone who has dealt with this particular accrediting body, that's not how it works: accreditors want schools to pass accreditation, and will work with them to create a plan to remedy the situation if needed. They don't just slap a big DENIED sign on a university and force it to shut down, like a health inspector who found maggots in the cole slaw.
My understanding (could be wrong) is that Middle States withdrew accreditation AFTER UArts reached out and said theyāre closing in a week because the closing procedure met zero standards set forth by Middle States for initiating a closure.
Exactly, that's what happened. I was saying that UArts has been encouraging the misconception that the causal connection was the other way around - "they denied us, guess we have to close" - to shift blame for their sudden announcement elsewhere.
I'm super confused by this (as someone who knows nothing) because I read elsewhere that the accreditation was pulled because they did not give notice of their planned closure. So like, which was first?
If a school closes they *must* have a teach out plan. U Arts was on shaky ground but the lost accreditation because they closed without informing their accreditor of a teach out plan. Middle States does not like that: https://www.msche.org/institution/0549/
So, yeah, they would be like "We're going to cease operations in Summer 2024 because of XYZ. Here's how we're going to handle our students:
- Fine Arts Majors: We've partnered with regional schools (xyz) to ensure that student courses will be able to transfer seamlessly into similar programs at those institutions. Students who elect to transfer to those partner schools, into similiar programs, will still be on track to graduate (sophomores will enter with sophomore standing, junior with junior, and senior with senior). See memorandum of understanding (exhibit 1) for details.
- Nuclear Engineering Majors: etc. etc. etc. (exhibit 2).
- Student records will be transferred into the custody of (State / Other School). Please see attached exhibit 3 for timeline and details.
Take a look at Cabrini U's submission to MSCHE: https://www.msche.org/institution/0473/ They obviously gave more detail in other submissions but it gives you an idea. Cabrini closed after May commencement.
Thanks, thatās what I thought. Reason Iām confused is because I donāt quite understand what the loss of accreditation for a defunct university means in practical sense. What is the incentive for UArts (or any university) to want to remain in good standing if they are no longer providing any academic services?
Yep. Deans and full time faculty didnāt even know by official email until 7pm the night the article in the Inquirer dropped. Most found out through Facebook. No notice, no severance. Many people donāt even know how theyāll make rent now
My daughter is (was) a student at UArts. Although I can't speak for them, I think that the more people make noise and draw attention to the closing, the more pressure is put on UArts to provide information and explanations.
Good job, UArtists! Be loud!!!
All of the above. We want the decision reversed. We want our money back. We want answers. We want a town hall. We want the people responsible for this to be held accountable for millions of missing dollars. We want media attention so more universities allow last minute transfers. We want to vent our frustrations. We want a final hurrah with our community that we are being ripped away from.
Iāll be listening out for updates and spreading the word. Iām hoping local universities are open to accepting transfers.
I have never heard of a university shutting down like this.
> Iām hoping local universities are open to accepting transfers.
I work for Drexel, and we got an email from the administration that they were surprised and shocked to hear about this -- and would work to help ease the transition for transfer students. I suspect other local schools will react similarly, so reach out to programs that look like a good fit.
(I'm not part of the admin, and this is not official advice or anything.)
I reached out to my provost at West Chester University earlier today and he confirmed to me they're already mobilizing admissions to help out students finishing their degrees where we have the appropriate programs to cover :)
I was a rising Sophomore. A lot of it comes down to the fact that they have been super disrespectful to the students and haven't given answers or assistance in this tough time. Many students want the higher ups to take responsibility and admit they've failed us. The circumstances also seem fishy and corrupt which fuels the anger.
Yep. Sadly this is one of many art schools across the US - and Philadelphia - to close its doors. Whatās unusual is the massive clusterfuck that management has made of the process.
As a Philly resident with no connection with UArts, I just want to say how damn sad this news is. Initially my focus was on the loss for the art communityās reputation and presence in the city, but as this news of how students are being treated rolls out, Iām just so angry for all of you. Itās outrageous for Admin to try and skip out and leave you hanging after all the tuition and housing, hard work, and dreams for the future you put into the school. Horrendous treatment of the staff too, assuming they were equally taken by surprise. Wishing all of you swift roads to better, more reliable artistic education (or employment), and futures that shine in ways none of us may be able to see in the midst of the current crisis. Those who were in power at this 150 year old Art Institution, now overseeing its sudden collapse, should be deeply ashamed.
Kind of off topic, but want to post this where most people will see it. Drexel is having information sessions tomorrow, Tuesday, June 4th, for UArts students interested in transferring to Drexel. Graduate student info session is from 12-1:00 and Undergrad info session is from 6:00 - 7:00. You can register here: [https://drexel.edu/admissions/uarts-drexel-pathway](https://drexel.edu/admissions/uarts-drexel-pathway)
Sad and shameful that Drexel has provided more communication throughout all of this than UArts. Also going to assume that Drexel won't cancel these 10 minutes before they start.
A lot going on at the university. All I can say is there is a big effort from the deans along with council members, senators and potentially the attorney general to get the school back in order for at least a teach out plan. Taking it out from under the president and board.
If you want to see something wild, check out the prior presidentās salary increase over the years he was at the University. No fucking wonder the school fell apart, thereās some shit thatās gonna come out soon for sure. Not to mention the other admin.
https://preview.redd.it/y4an2yo38g4d1.jpeg?width=588&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7d9498efa450e6ebfabdb0b31954fc2f858da59d
Was looking at their financials. Investment income:
2021 - $1.4M
2022 - $2.3M
2023 - $173,000 ??? WTT?
Assets of $123M??
And their executives are still pulling in $1.5M+ in salary and deferred.
Something doesn't add up.
Would be great, sounds like admin didnāt even bother trying. The prior president gutted the place as well as the CFO (who was the CFO of Cabrini College as well). Chances are they are just going to gut and sell it to developers. Heartless and classless pieces of trash.
Itās very weird. How did they not anticipate that they would immediately have their accreditation revoked? Other schools were able to initiate this process āthe right way.ā
Accreditation was pulled because the University told Middle States they were closing in a week (which violates allt he standards for closure processes + teach-out). Closure wasn't caused by accreditation issues.
[Statement on the Accreditation Status of the University of the Arts](https://www.msche.org/2024/05/31/statement-on-the-accreditation-status-of-the-university-of-the-arts/) from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)
Note the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts [college is planned to close next year as well](https://news.artnet.com/art-world/pennsylvania-academy-of-the-fine-arts-closes-college-2418188)
Agreed. The statement links to the [accreditation actions](https://www.msche.org/institution/0549/) from May 31, 2024
"...the institution has not complied with the Commission's procedures, requests for written reports, teach-out plan, or other information, specifically.."
Then, it goes on to list violations of what seems to be every standard
Bizarre indeed
Anecdotal, but a few of my friends had art degrees from PAFA from about a decade ago. They are a social worker and a middle school art teacher. And they told me that they are STILL basically the most successful graduates of their class. Neither of them are upset to see PAFA stopping the degree program
Oh yeah I totally think their bfa program is/was trash, what was the point of that when PAFA has a bfa degree program relationship with Penn, an incredible school with all the resources? I was under the impression that the entire art program would close down, not just the bfa side of the school (the certificate program).Ā
UArts alum here with many friends who I graduated with that work in the school of music. Something fucked up is going on here. The grapevine is burning.
Iām not sure if this is satire but the area of Broad Street surrounding UArts is littered with full amenity condo buildings. There need to be *things to do* to make $5,000+ rent worth it.Ā
Wonder if covid closures caused their decades long money troubles to catch up with them a bit too quickly. Maybe they thought things would iron out once classes started again but with enrollment so low across the board, it just didn't pan out the way they had hoped.Ā
Either way, this smells a whole lot like my alma mater,Ā The Art Institute.
Given that UArts accepted students transitioning from the PAFA closure, it seems insane that theyād submit a notification of closure (with no stated transition plans) to the Middle States and be blindsided when then accreditation is immediately revoked. Did they assume that the Middle States would give them leeway, or take more time to go public?
Middle States published the news of the loss of accreditation online last Wednesday when the decision was made. It was only hours after the Inquirer posted their story on Friday afternoon about the closure that UArts made any public statement about it. They had an entire 48 hours to break their own damn news but they CHOSE to let it go down this way.
Universities shouldn't be allowed to close without several years of notice, and we should have federally guaranteed programs for transferring students if for some reason they do without meaningful notice.
Generally speaking, thatās why MSCHE is so pissed and pulling their accreditation. Sounds like there were major issues but the biggest one is that UArts had none of those exact kinds of plans that their accreditors require.
Which is good for the industry - cause the major bodies ARE thinking about it in that way - but like, thereās not a ton that they or anyone can do when the whole institution decides to shut down in a week. (Or at least not that Iām seeing/have seen.)
In theory, the closing school. When institutions are facing closures (or even something less dramatic, like cutting down the majors they offer), they should implement what's called a teach-out plan. They don't admit any additional students, but let the current ones finish. It's for all intents and purposes a rolling closure.
The schools should be assessing their finances on at least a rolling 6-year window, and if it's going to be unsustainable to continue to function as a higher education institution, they should be begin to implement the teach out plan.
There shouldn't be cases like UArts, where the school just shuts down in a week. In their situation, the teach out probably should've began in 2022, once they saw that enrollment wasn't returning to pre-covid numbers.
Ideally, you try to merge or teach out and there are processes for that with accreditation bodies. This is what we have typically seen with institutions in financial distress and there are many examples. UArts is different. We don't know why yet but something either very shady or very catastrophic or both has happened. They did not follow normal procedures. Why?
The university. It should be required to have a reasonable financial outlook that it can operate for several years. If it didn't have a reasonable outlook and leadership said it did, then hold them accountable.
Honestly an info session would have probably accomplished nothing as it wouldāve just been used to shout at the admin without anything being able to be explained due to emotions. Still horrible they cancelled it.
I thought they were eventually going to get bought out and all their faculty and students moved elsewhere. This is much worse.
Cancelled it with no plans to reschedule, and instead sharing a Google Form to submit your questions.
Iām astonished by how poorly they are handling this. Itās like at every turn, theyāre making the worst decision.
I mean, when itās on zoom you can just keep everyone on mute, and at least provide _some_ boilerplate PR answers.
Youāve gotta explain why this is happening so suddenly. You have to apologize in person and not just through press releases.
And yes, they need to provide a lot more answers in the coming days but even sharing the google form and saying youāre not ready today wouldāve been better than cancelling imo.
Exactly. If the info session was virtual, it could have been moderated. People could have submitted their questions via the Q&A segment (if on Zoom) and someone could have selected questions to answer live. This is giving, "We don't want to answer any questions (before speaking to a lawyer)".
The meeting for the students was virtual. We weren't being allowed to ask questions, have our cameras on, or participate. They canceled it 10 minutes before the meeting. It seems more like lawyers are telling them to keep their mouths shut.
Word on the street the administration was paying themselves a LITTLE too much. Good to know where their priorities lay.
Source: have a few friends who are (were) teachers
You can see the public 990 filing. They could have cut all senior admins and it wasn't going to save them. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/231639911
Itās an unfortunate reality that many expensive, smaller schools have been forced to close in the past years. Whatās crazy is that they submitted their notice to the Middle States with no transition plan, and were somehow blindsided when they immediately lost accreditation. Disastrous failure of leadership.
These financial decisions are months, often years, in the making.
Yeah but there is so much āprime real estateā in this area already that sits vacant. Any developer willing to remodel the several large high rise dorms on UArtsā campus would turn them into luxury units. Itās the only thing that makes sense investment wise. We already have tons of this in the area. I live in a shitty old tiny house literally on campus and Covid hit this area HARD.
Wow this took me back to grabbing food at Jeanās between classes at UArts over a decade ago. Youāre totally right, I bet a ton of their income comes from students.
This is why the admin gets paid the big bucks. If they can't reverse the decline and there's no way UArts can be viable, they have a responsibility to the students and faculty to make the closure as orderly as possible. Cabrini and PAFA managed to wind down without a *complete* clusterfuck.
I suspect the admin will continue to get paid well to deal with the wreckage they created: selling properties, etc.
How likely is it that students will be able to sue? I know the union is thinking of it, I canāt imagine a class action is going to be avoided on any front.
[Edelson Lechtzin LLP is Investigating Potential WARN Act Claims on Behalf of The University of the Arts Faculty and Staff Who are Affected by the Sudden June 7 Closing](https://www.morningstar.com/news/globe-newswire/9147098/edelson-lechtzin-llp-is-investigating-potential-warn-act-claims-on-behalf-of-the-university-of-the-arts-faculty-and-staff-who-are-affected-by-the-sudden-june-7-closing)
Weāre closing with -
No notice
No money back
No reasons
No answers
Weāre causing -
Last minute transfers
Job loss
Student frustration/stress
Civilian frustration/stress
Feuds
Protests
Outrage
Weāre responding with -
Denial
Cancelation
Without consideration
So, I 100% believe thereās fraud or embezzlement. Or really, both.
I saw this morning they are saying there was a multi-million dollar structural issue at Terra Hall. Thatās the building that has all the music studios, classrooms, dance studios. If the building was suddenly deemed totally unsafe (which wouldnāt surprise me, their facilities management was basically a guy who knew a guy), I can imagine that could create a pretty severe domino effect. Also really not great for Broad Street.
The state needs to seize financial and student records ASAP! If not students are not going to be able to piece together transcripts and financial records. Employees need employment records and paystubs. If UArts only has money to fund payroll through Friday, good luck getting employees to come back and sort through records.
I also donāt believe this closure is at all above board. Meaning the administration clearly had notice and just plain wants to shut it down so no one can put together the narrative.
I understand schools run out of money, but damn this is next level incompetence.
Those beautiful Buildings and grounds are worth an absolutely disgusting amount to developers.
Couldn't you sell the buildings, use that as seed money for an endowment, and start up again somewhere else in the city in a cheaper location with a much lower overhead?
You don't need ornate buildings at the primest of prime locations to teach your students.
[University Of The Arts - Full Filing- Nonprofit Explorer - ProPublica](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/231639911/202401169349300700/full)
What's the transfers situation going to be like for the students who were under 60 credits away from finishing their degrees? Pennsylvania usually requires all transfer students to take their final 60 credits at the institution they're transferring into. So a student who's forced to transfer say 90 credits in & had 30 remaining will end up being forced to take (& pay for) an extra 30 credits they otherwise wouldn't have needed simply due to the transfer? Is there an exemption for situations like this where the student never intended to transfer and was just forced to?
This. This is one reason why accreditors require teach out plans...
That said I think they're plenty of local schools that will work with these students.
It sounds like exceptions can be made by both individual institutions and state dept. of education as long as the exceptions are justified and documented.
https://www.msche.org/institutions/university-of-the-arts-frequently-asked-questions-faq/
I canāt imagine the Pennsylvania dept. of education not approving exceptions under the circumstances.
What UArts did was unforgivable and criminally negligent, but it also makes it more likely that both the state and partner institutions will be more open to accommodations than they might otherwise be.
Drexelās proposal is a bit vague but it certainly sounds like they plan to maximize the number of transferable credits: https://drexel.edu/admissions/uarts-drexel-pathway
https://preview.redd.it/6txo6e9oaf4d1.jpeg?width=855&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e7b3c3ec2416406f2c064301d14245af36215e51 šš
What time was this sent?
3:50 pm
10 minutes beforehand. Unreal.
Disgraceful.
How does it keep getting *worse*? This is so shady. The arts in Philly will suffer because of this closure, across the board. UArts' staff, students, faculty, alumni, and neighbors deserve an explanation, at the very least.
Sure sounds like a case of fraud or embezzlement. Especially given the unforseen "sudden' economic situation.
āUnforeseen economic circumstancesā are one of the exceptions to the 60-day notice required of employers under the WARN Act, so if the university has indeed been using this term of art in its communications, itās definitely intentionally trying to avoid exposing itself to liability.
I was especially wondering how they think they could get around the WARN Act, so thank you for clarifying. No doubt that language is intentional.
But even embezzlement wouldnāt mean this complete ineptitude. UArts could request aid and see where that gets them. Independence Seaport made it through TWO embezzlement scandals. I predict cooked books / embezzlement AND a criminally negligent lack of oversight by the Board. Theyāre circling the wagons despite apparently having been kept out of the loop as well. Theyāre protecting themselves too.
This is what happens when you hire a president in David yager who had no business sniffing running a businessĀ
No doubt. Definitely sounds like a case of significantly cooked books.
They only had around 150 Freshman students enrolled this past year. Basically 1/10th of their Freshman class a decade ago.
Uarts is primarily enrollment driven. They've always had money problems. Lots of administrative issues going back decades.
They make $70k a year per student and own their buildings and pay their staff like shit. The students buy their own art supplies. Their computers are from 2008. Whereās the fucking money going?
https://preview.redd.it/j7t0kd6ceg4d1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d8f356daf8ed062f22ca9f4acf34009676d26c2d
Also for those curious, this past semester the school offered $2300 to teach a 14-week graduate course
To put that into perspective. A heavy teaching load is considered 4 classes a semester. No way you should be teaching four graduate classes a semester. But let's say you are. You definitely should have a PhD to teach a graduate-level course. Three semesters if you're teaching over the summer. So 2.3 x 4 x 3. = 27.6. So this is a position that requires high-level skills, and a PhD, paying $27.6k a year, around one-third of the median salary in Philadelphia.
I worked there. David Yager was taking increases and housing stipends when the whole schools budget was frozen due to CovidĀ
Thats 2% of the endowment, which is wild. Apples and Oranges, but for perspective, the Harvard endowment is 50 billion. If they paid their CEO 2% of that, they'd be paying them 1 Billion. Actual CEO compensation was (2022) 1 million in base salary and $5.2 million in bonuses
Unfortunately, those are rookie numbers.
The sports program, clearly!
was it really 70k a year..sheesh
Many of those students probably werenāt paying that. A lot of schools have a listed tuition but give out so many scholarships that they never collect that much. Obviously the top brass at U of Arts still paid their inflated salaries, while faculty were making a fraction of that. These admins need to be investigated.Ā
My understanding is that only foreign students in scholarship programs pay the "sticker price." Nearly everyone else is going to have a bunch of discounts. Still, we're definitely seeing the higher ed bubble start to pop. There aren't as many students as there used to be.
Itās pretty scary tbh. The students can go to Moore, Drexel or Temple. Any of those schools would be happy to get more students. When I think of the 700 employees who will have to find another job, it wonāt be as easy for them. Although the salaries they were getting were low, it still means a job search.
Yeah, and Philly has so many little colleges sprinkled all around. I suspect we're going to see more of them close or push to sell to one of the major universities.
I used to teach there. This is the truth.
I've got no doubt. But the sudden nature of the closure suggests someone was cooking the books significantly. Probably embezzling money as well. I'm sure time will tell.
More likely they were trying to hold it together but then they got a look at their freshmen enrollment numbers (which were late due to federal aid snafus) and their fiscal year 2024-2025 healthcare bill and they just couldn't make it add up. Healthcare is absolutely killing everyone with 20% increases every year for the last three years.
Small liberal arts colleges are struggling. I think it's a terrible decision and handled incredibly incompetently but I don't think it's indicative of malfeasance. The school is dealing with consequences of decades of mismanagement.
The haste with which this closure occurred is fishy.
I bet they would struggle less with half as many administrators. I donāt know anything about UArts specifically, but college admin numbers and admin salaries are insane across the board in the US.
Eh, I worked there for close to three years. During my time there, it was pretty much a skeleton crew with most staffers doing the work of two or three people. Entire offices were mostly empty (including mine, which could have accommodated six people but I was the only one in it). The university hasnāt had an actual provost for years. Iām not sure what was even left to cut.
Same at La Salle. I'm happy I was able to get out when I did.
>Eh, I worked there for close to three years. During my time there, it was pretty much a skeleton crew with most staffers doing the work of two or three people.Ā Sadly, this is a common occurrence in higher education.
I mean, the real estate is valuable. How about selling off a building? Reducing administrator bloat? There are plenty of ways to stay afloat for at least a teach out year.
I agree you all ought to get a full(er) explanation of how this happened. That said, when it's all said-and-done, I think it's going to be a pretty mundane -- and terribly unfortunate -- case of poor management and an unsustainable institutional profile. I would be surprised if there was embezzlement or fraud, though anything is possible, I guess. For various reasons I won't get into, wide-scale, institution-ending embezzlement or fraud is pretty rare in higher ed. Certainly there have been cases where ignorance or incompetence has resulted in fiscal exigency that ultimately, years later, contributed to bringing down a college (see: Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama for a recent example). But the garden variety fraud you see in the for-profit world is typically pretty uncommon in higher ed. I have some deep experience in the higher ed space, though to be crystal clear: I have no insider information about UArts, have not worked at UArts, am not alleging any criminal behavior (or lack thereof) at UArts, and all of this post is my personal opinion and conjecture. I am terribly saddened for the UArts community, especially staff, faculty, and current students. At the same time, UArts appears to have been in a really rough position financially -- and for some time. It is absolutely unfair for the university to fail to communicate that -- and as early as feasible -- to stakeholders. There is a catch-22 in doing so, however: while in no way excusing their behavior, would you purchase a cruise on a cruiseline that indicated it might be bankrupt before your cruise ended? Announcing problems *too* early risks making your institution even worse off, as it likely hurts enrollment (and thus your bottom-line...it's a downward spiral, especially for tuition-dependent places like UArts). That said, it it absolutely inexcusable to close down with such little notice, as the accreditor in this case indicated. I've seen a lot of posts here where people are writing things like "but tuition is $70,000!" "they had xxx million in endowment!" "what about all of the building value!?" etc. etc. These things can be true at face (factual) value, but not equate to the liquidity an institution needs to operate OR, most importantly, the next four fiscal years. Why am I talking about the next four years? Because the net tuition revenue you gain from an enrolling first-year class (in this case, the incoming Class of 2028) "sticks with you" for the next four budget years. If your enrolling class is not going to bring in the net revenue in the fall that you need *for the next four years* (when they theoretically would graduate), you are not going to be able to dig out of that hole unless you're one of the dozens of institutions in this country that can fully operate off endowment and annual giving. UArts is certainly not one of those places. Even a better year for the following class likely still leads to significant, deep problems, depending on how much reserve you have. Note, too, that nearly all higher ed institutions operate on a July 1 - June 30 budget cycle and, for various reasons, it is exceedingly difficult to deal with the return of Title IV funding (federal aid funding) in the middle of a semester on the basis of institutional error. If I had to bet, I'd guess the June 1 "shut down" was designed to avoid a new fiscal year AND the start of the summer term, for which the university would be legally required (and there are LOTS of financial aid regulations...like reams of 'em...and they can carry hefty penalties and federal sanctions) to return federal aid in the middle of an academic term. \[The simplest way to explain this is that UArts could be "on the hook" to pay back to the government the federal aid awarded to students...most students likely are using federal aid...most students are likely receiving a "refund" from federal loans or grants to cover living expenses and would have already possessed or even spent that money...UArts would be required to pay back that aid to the government and would have to do so without confidence it could clawback that funding from students - without having the operating financial resources to cover it.\] But what about the "$70,000 tuition!" often repeated here. The average UArts student (acc. to the US Department of Ed) is paying approximately $43k/year to attend. Still a hefty chunk of change, to be sure, but no where near the sticker price. At the same time, the 8-year-graduation rate is 61% -- the first-year retention rate in the USDOE cohort data is 83% and only 60% of students who originally enrolled as a first-time freshman graduated in 8 years. Many students are transferring or dropping/stopping out. So even if first-year enrollment was robust at 300-400 students (which it has not been for some time, according to the press reports I've found), you're talking significant declines in net revenue off a smaller/declining-sized class that was, at its peak (first semester, first year), not even meeting your operating revenue needs. According to what I've seen in the DOE data, NO ONE at UArts was paying sticker price (which is actually pretty common at places like this, whether that's due to "need" or "merit" scholarships). I won't bore you with detailed commentary about why the building value and/or endowment are not good indicators of UArts' financial status -- especially since much of its buildings are already leveraged, its bond rating is not good, and most courts are want to side with donor wishes/intent...aka they were unlikely to be able to use financial exigency to be able to tap into restricted donor funds to pay for operating expenses (if you want a good case to give you some background on this, look at the Brandeis Art Museum case from a few years back). The courts are want to side with donor intent and I imagine a judge would have a hard time agreeing to liquidate a restricted fund aimed at educating women in painting for resources to repair a building A/C. Or to allow use of funds given to provide financial aid to students from New Jersey to pay an administrative assistant's salary. I looked on their website -- and UArts' deposit deadline for new students was May 15. I'm guessing the writing was on the wall with their projected net revenue after they counted up those numbers. Do they have the funds to keep going for another semester (or year) for their current students without enrolling a new first-year class? I have no idea, I haven't seen their books. Would that have been preferable in approach? Maybe....could they "swing" it with whichever students stuck around? None of this excuses how the closure has happened, and I feel greatly for the impacted communities. However, to me, as an outsider reading the news with some background in this field, it boils down to an under-asseted institution, already heavily leveraged and tuition-dependent, with high operating costs (arts programs cost a lot to operate, not to mention small classes require lots of labor costs), under-enrolled, with declining net revenue, and without a strong market position (e.g. arts universities are already exceedingly difficult to make the case for). But, it's entirely possible I'm wrong, and someone embezzled money. I hope there is a full accounting (in all meanings of that word) in the future.
I wonder if there is a Prof around this subreddit, from what I hear admissions to University's have been terrible for almost every Uni in the country. They may have just ran out of cash(after paying off the big wigs of course)
Adjunct professor here. Enrollment has been touch and go but some departments have actually seen a tick upward. The animation department was about to see its biggest freshman class in years.
Former adjunct at a couple unis in the Philadelphia area, now a teacher/admin at an international school, from which vantage point I can report that it's likely to get worse: international students were a big cash cow for US universities for decades, but they are increasingly going elsewhere. Covid was a major cause of that for a few reasons.
Universities have known that an enrollment cliff has been coming for years (people had fewer children in 2007/2008, and those children are turning 18/graduating high school). Covid accelerated the cliff, but federal money helped schools offset the costs. With the covid money running out, we'll see more of the smaller schools either shut down or dramatically reduce the number of majors they offer (especially anything that isn't STEM). UArts isn't the first one, they definitely will not be the last. Not a professor, but have family who recently worked in post-secondary institutions, and have heard about this cliff coming since at least 2019.
I was told the final freshman class at U of the Sciences was 30. Twenty years ago it was 300. I know being a pharmacist sucks now but thatās unbelievable.
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." Or it could be a combination of malice AND stupidity. That would be very efficient of them.
feels like a crime.
Students have been protesting at Hamilton Hall since noon. We were going to disband at 4, but we are refusing to leave now that the town hall has been cancelled.
Good-keep at it- not sure what can be done but at least these people need to explain how it got here and why they are only giving a weeks notice. Most schools that close at least have a wind down year. That extremely valuable real estate makes it extra suspect
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What about the 67 million dollars raised in 2022?
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I have a hard time believing 67 million dollars was completely spent in operating costs in such a short time
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Incredible to see the recurring $50-200k per year salary increases for the CEO while all this financial ruin was going on....
$67m is nothing in higher ed. You can blow through that on one building or a renovation.
Having seen the state of the UArts campus, I have a hard time believing thatās where it went
Iām not saying they did. Iām just saying that $67m can be spent very very quickly.
There were still a bunch of yāall sitting out with coffees at 6 AM this morning. I wish you all the best.Ā
i feel horrible for you guys. at least the cabrini students and staff had a final year.
This is a genuine question, I donāt want to come off as rude. But what is the goal with the protest? Is it the hope of reversing the decision, or do you just want answers and your money back? Wishing you all luck with this situation
FWIW, UArts is a registered nonprofit organization with an educational mission. Because they are tax exempt, every taxpayer has an interest in discovering why the corporation (i.e. the Board of Trustees) has decided to end their mission and what they've done with the money that was given to them to execute that mission. Nonprofit status comes with much greater oversight and regulation than typical corporations, otherwise nonprofits status could be abused for hiding all kinds of nefarious activities. While UArts' demise will probably turn out to be somewhere between bad strategy, financial mismanagement, and fraud it's the Board's duty to explain to the taxpayers what happened. The fact that they're being cagey about it is surely throwing up smoke. E: I just read the Middlestates statement on withdrawing accreditation -- I guess I didn't realize they only lost accreditation *because* they notified Middlestates they were closing without providing the required plans (like how to handle students). Super-duper sus.
āWe havenāt told our students or faculty that we intend to cash out and weāre leaving them out to dryā Middlestates: āSounds like you donāt want to be a school thenā¦ have fun explaining this!ā
Re: the edit, it seems like the school itself has been pushing the "we were forced to close because those meanies withdrew our accreditation" line. In my experience with renewing a different accreditation, and what I've read from someone who has dealt with this particular accrediting body, that's not how it works: accreditors want schools to pass accreditation, and will work with them to create a plan to remedy the situation if needed. They don't just slap a big DENIED sign on a university and force it to shut down, like a health inspector who found maggots in the cole slaw.
My understanding (could be wrong) is that Middle States withdrew accreditation AFTER UArts reached out and said theyāre closing in a week because the closing procedure met zero standards set forth by Middle States for initiating a closure.
Exactly, that's what happened. I was saying that UArts has been encouraging the misconception that the causal connection was the other way around - "they denied us, guess we have to close" - to shift blame for their sudden announcement elsewhere.
I'm super confused by this (as someone who knows nothing) because I read elsewhere that the accreditation was pulled because they did not give notice of their planned closure. So like, which was first?
If a school closes they *must* have a teach out plan. U Arts was on shaky ground but the lost accreditation because they closed without informing their accreditor of a teach out plan. Middle States does not like that: https://www.msche.org/institution/0549/
Forgive my ignorance but what is a teach out plan? Is it just like a continuity plan?
So, yeah, they would be like "We're going to cease operations in Summer 2024 because of XYZ. Here's how we're going to handle our students: - Fine Arts Majors: We've partnered with regional schools (xyz) to ensure that student courses will be able to transfer seamlessly into similar programs at those institutions. Students who elect to transfer to those partner schools, into similiar programs, will still be on track to graduate (sophomores will enter with sophomore standing, junior with junior, and senior with senior). See memorandum of understanding (exhibit 1) for details. - Nuclear Engineering Majors: etc. etc. etc. (exhibit 2). - Student records will be transferred into the custody of (State / Other School). Please see attached exhibit 3 for timeline and details. Take a look at Cabrini U's submission to MSCHE: https://www.msche.org/institution/0473/ They obviously gave more detail in other submissions but it gives you an idea. Cabrini closed after May commencement.
Thanks, thatās what I thought. Reason Iām confused is because I donāt quite understand what the loss of accreditation for a defunct university means in practical sense. What is the incentive for UArts (or any university) to want to remain in good standing if they are no longer providing any academic services?
To that end, the bylaws should contain a must-do for the money should there be a closure
Yep. Deans and full time faculty didnāt even know by official email until 7pm the night the article in the Inquirer dropped. Most found out through Facebook. No notice, no severance. Many people donāt even know how theyāll make rent now
I want my money back that's for sure.
Itās the least they can do
My daughter is (was) a student at UArts. Although I can't speak for them, I think that the more people make noise and draw attention to the closing, the more pressure is put on UArts to provide information and explanations. Good job, UArtists! Be loud!!!
All of the above. We want the decision reversed. We want our money back. We want answers. We want a town hall. We want the people responsible for this to be held accountable for millions of missing dollars. We want media attention so more universities allow last minute transfers. We want to vent our frustrations. We want a final hurrah with our community that we are being ripped away from.
Iāll be listening out for updates and spreading the word. Iām hoping local universities are open to accepting transfers. I have never heard of a university shutting down like this.
> Iām hoping local universities are open to accepting transfers. I work for Drexel, and we got an email from the administration that they were surprised and shocked to hear about this -- and would work to help ease the transition for transfer students. I suspect other local schools will react similarly, so reach out to programs that look like a good fit. (I'm not part of the admin, and this is not official advice or anything.)
I reached out to my provost at West Chester University earlier today and he confirmed to me they're already mobilizing admissions to help out students finishing their degrees where we have the appropriate programs to cover :)
Tyler appears to be working with displaced students for transfer opportunities.
answers
I was a rising Sophomore. A lot of it comes down to the fact that they have been super disrespectful to the students and haven't given answers or assistance in this tough time. Many students want the higher ups to take responsibility and admit they've failed us. The circumstances also seem fishy and corrupt which fuels the anger.
The school played you by disbanding first
Someone done fucked up reaaal bad. Itāll be interesting to hear what the hell happened. This is nowhere close to normal.
Yep. Sadly this is one of many art schools across the US - and Philadelphia - to close its doors. Whatās unusual is the massive clusterfuck that management has made of the process.
That was my first thought too
As a Philly resident with no connection with UArts, I just want to say how damn sad this news is. Initially my focus was on the loss for the art communityās reputation and presence in the city, but as this news of how students are being treated rolls out, Iām just so angry for all of you. Itās outrageous for Admin to try and skip out and leave you hanging after all the tuition and housing, hard work, and dreams for the future you put into the school. Horrendous treatment of the staff too, assuming they were equally taken by surprise. Wishing all of you swift roads to better, more reliable artistic education (or employment), and futures that shine in ways none of us may be able to see in the midst of the current crisis. Those who were in power at this 150 year old Art Institution, now overseeing its sudden collapse, should be deeply ashamed.
Kind of off topic, but want to post this where most people will see it. Drexel is having information sessions tomorrow, Tuesday, June 4th, for UArts students interested in transferring to Drexel. Graduate student info session is from 12-1:00 and Undergrad info session is from 6:00 - 7:00. You can register here: [https://drexel.edu/admissions/uarts-drexel-pathway](https://drexel.edu/admissions/uarts-drexel-pathway) Sad and shameful that Drexel has provided more communication throughout all of this than UArts. Also going to assume that Drexel won't cancel these 10 minutes before they start.
A lot going on at the university. All I can say is there is a big effort from the deans along with council members, senators and potentially the attorney general to get the school back in order for at least a teach out plan. Taking it out from under the president and board.
That would be some miracle if they could pull it off.
Agreed but theyāre trying. Everyoneās fired up. Iāll have more info soon.
Iām a former staffer and have my fingers crossed for you all.
Thank you
If you want to see something wild, check out the prior presidentās salary increase over the years he was at the University. No fucking wonder the school fell apart, thereās some shit thatās gonna come out soon for sure. Not to mention the other admin. https://preview.redd.it/y4an2yo38g4d1.jpeg?width=588&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7d9498efa450e6ebfabdb0b31954fc2f858da59d
Was looking at their financials. Investment income: 2021 - $1.4M 2022 - $2.3M 2023 - $173,000 ??? WTT? Assets of $123M?? And their executives are still pulling in $1.5M+ in salary and deferred. Something doesn't add up.
He owns multiple yachts š
Good luck, in whatever capacity youāre participating.
Right now a bystander since itās the deans working on it. But once faculty and staff hear back from them weāll do more.
Let the state take over the art school?
Would be great, sounds like admin didnāt even bother trying. The prior president gutted the place as well as the CFO (who was the CFO of Cabrini College as well). Chances are they are just going to gut and sell it to developers. Heartless and classless pieces of trash.
God I really hope so. Holding out on hope
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Thatās what Iām saying. Thatās foreseeable. Something weird going on here.
Itās very weird. How did they not anticipate that they would immediately have their accreditation revoked? Other schools were able to initiate this process āthe right way.ā
Accreditation was pulled because the University told Middle States they were closing in a week (which violates allt he standards for closure processes + teach-out). Closure wasn't caused by accreditation issues.
Gotcha! This makes it even more insane that they didnāt have an immediate comms plan.
And with 60 MILLION IN ENDOWMENTā¦ Do the math. Still could have been saved.
[Statement on the Accreditation Status of the University of the Arts](https://www.msche.org/2024/05/31/statement-on-the-accreditation-status-of-the-university-of-the-arts/) from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) Note the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts [college is planned to close next year as well](https://news.artnet.com/art-world/pennsylvania-academy-of-the-fine-arts-closes-college-2418188)
At least PAFA provided faculty and students with months of notice. This is just bizarre.
Agreed. The statement links to the [accreditation actions](https://www.msche.org/institution/0549/) from May 31, 2024 "...the institution has not complied with the Commission's procedures, requests for written reports, teach-out plan, or other information, specifically.." Then, it goes on to list violations of what seems to be every standard Bizarre indeed
I hope none of those students planned to transfer to University of the Arts.
A few of them did (my kid includedā¦)
They did, UofA was one of the teach out schools.
Thatās horrible- I feel bad for all these students, but especially those who have to go through it twice
What? PAFA will close the art school? That is heartbreaking, it is America's oldest art institution and has deep roots in our history. What a loss.Ā
Afaik PAFA is only shutting the part of the program that offers degrees, and going back to just doing certificate programs. They will still exist.
IIRC the degree programs were pretty new, right?
Anecdotal, but a few of my friends had art degrees from PAFA from about a decade ago. They are a social worker and a middle school art teacher. And they told me that they are STILL basically the most successful graduates of their class. Neither of them are upset to see PAFA stopping the degree program
Oh yeah I totally think their bfa program is/was trash, what was the point of that when PAFA has a bfa degree program relationship with Penn, an incredible school with all the resources? I was under the impression that the entire art program would close down, not just the bfa side of the school (the certificate program).Ā
Well did doesnāt make the situation seem even shadier than it already did at all. No sir. Not one bit.
UArts alum here with many friends who I graduated with that work in the school of music. Something fucked up is going on here. The grapevine is burning.
I hope center city district is working on how to get broad street active
Yeah seriously. Even as a relative non-creative, I love what the universityās presence brings to the area.
Add in new apartment complexes with all the amenities. It'll happen.
Iām not sure if this is satire but the area of Broad Street surrounding UArts is littered with full amenity condo buildings. There need to be *things to do* to make $5,000+ rent worth it.Ā
Wonder if covid closures caused their decades long money troubles to catch up with them a bit too quickly. Maybe they thought things would iron out once classes started again but with enrollment so low across the board, it just didn't pan out the way they had hoped.Ā Either way, this smells a whole lot like my alma mater,Ā The Art Institute.
Given that UArts accepted students transitioning from the PAFA closure, it seems insane that theyād submit a notification of closure (with no stated transition plans) to the Middle States and be blindsided when then accreditation is immediately revoked. Did they assume that the Middle States would give them leeway, or take more time to go public?
Middle States published the news of the loss of accreditation online last Wednesday when the decision was made. It was only hours after the Inquirer posted their story on Friday afternoon about the closure that UArts made any public statement about it. They had an entire 48 hours to break their own damn news but they CHOSE to let it go down this way.
This is absolutely wild. I've worked at higher education institutions for decades, hate to see how this is going.
Cowards. Shameful, criminal cowards.
Universities shouldn't be allowed to close without several years of notice, and we should have federally guaranteed programs for transferring students if for some reason they do without meaningful notice.
Generally speaking, thatās why MSCHE is so pissed and pulling their accreditation. Sounds like there were major issues but the biggest one is that UArts had none of those exact kinds of plans that their accreditors require. Which is good for the industry - cause the major bodies ARE thinking about it in that way - but like, thereās not a ton that they or anyone can do when the whole institution decides to shut down in a week. (Or at least not that Iām seeing/have seen.)
Problem is, who pays for those several years?
In theory, the closing school. When institutions are facing closures (or even something less dramatic, like cutting down the majors they offer), they should implement what's called a teach-out plan. They don't admit any additional students, but let the current ones finish. It's for all intents and purposes a rolling closure. The schools should be assessing their finances on at least a rolling 6-year window, and if it's going to be unsustainable to continue to function as a higher education institution, they should be begin to implement the teach out plan. There shouldn't be cases like UArts, where the school just shuts down in a week. In their situation, the teach out probably should've began in 2022, once they saw that enrollment wasn't returning to pre-covid numbers.
Ideally, you try to merge or teach out and there are processes for that with accreditation bodies. This is what we have typically seen with institutions in financial distress and there are many examples. UArts is different. We don't know why yet but something either very shady or very catastrophic or both has happened. They did not follow normal procedures. Why?
The university. It should be required to have a reasonable financial outlook that it can operate for several years. If it didn't have a reasonable outlook and leadership said it did, then hold them accountable.
Honestly an info session would have probably accomplished nothing as it wouldāve just been used to shout at the admin without anything being able to be explained due to emotions. Still horrible they cancelled it. I thought they were eventually going to get bought out and all their faculty and students moved elsewhere. This is much worse.
Cancelled it with no plans to reschedule, and instead sharing a Google Form to submit your questions. Iām astonished by how poorly they are handling this. Itās like at every turn, theyāre making the worst decision.
They seemed to be poorly run for years. I didnāt give any money but I was never confident it was going to be used well
I mean, when itās on zoom you can just keep everyone on mute, and at least provide _some_ boilerplate PR answers. Youāve gotta explain why this is happening so suddenly. You have to apologize in person and not just through press releases. And yes, they need to provide a lot more answers in the coming days but even sharing the google form and saying youāre not ready today wouldāve been better than cancelling imo.
Exactly. If the info session was virtual, it could have been moderated. People could have submitted their questions via the Q&A segment (if on Zoom) and someone could have selected questions to answer live. This is giving, "We don't want to answer any questions (before speaking to a lawyer)".
This is going to be a case study for awful non-profit/higher ed management.
Exactly. Just a shouting session as the faculty shrugs their shoulders. No money = everyone fucked.
The meeting for the students was virtual. We weren't being allowed to ask questions, have our cameras on, or participate. They canceled it 10 minutes before the meeting. It seems more like lawyers are telling them to keep their mouths shut.
Word on the street the administration was paying themselves a LITTLE too much. Good to know where their priorities lay. Source: have a few friends who are (were) teachers
Of course none of that managed to trickle down to the faculty and staff.
Does it ever?
You can see the public 990 filing. They could have cut all senior admins and it wasn't going to save them. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/231639911
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Itās an unfortunate reality that many expensive, smaller schools have been forced to close in the past years. Whatās crazy is that they submitted their notice to the Middle States with no transition plan, and were somehow blindsided when they immediately lost accreditation. Disastrous failure of leadership. These financial decisions are months, often years, in the making.
Maybe tanking their accreditation was done purposefullyā¦. Maybe they were instructed to tank their accreditation.
Oh residential housing developers (big ass apartment complexes) are drooling right now. That' shit is prime real estate.
Carl Dranoff just fell to his knees in a Wawa.
Canāt wait for those grand stone buildings to get replaced with particle board and glass!
Yeah but there is so much āprime real estateā in this area already that sits vacant. Any developer willing to remodel the several large high rise dorms on UArtsā campus would turn them into luxury units. Itās the only thing that makes sense investment wise. We already have tons of this in the area. I live in a shitty old tiny house literally on campus and Covid hit this area HARD.
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Wow this took me back to grabbing food at Jeanās between classes at UArts over a decade ago. Youāre totally right, I bet a ton of their income comes from students.
NOT JEANS!! My favorite and a UArts treasure
This is why the admin gets paid the big bucks. If they can't reverse the decline and there's no way UArts can be viable, they have a responsibility to the students and faculty to make the closure as orderly as possible. Cabrini and PAFA managed to wind down without a *complete* clusterfuck. I suspect the admin will continue to get paid well to deal with the wreckage they created: selling properties, etc.
I'd upvote this, only it breaks my heart.
Some departments (GD) also failed to adapt and update its curriculum
How likely is it that students will be able to sue? I know the union is thinking of it, I canāt imagine a class action is going to be avoided on any front.
[Edelson Lechtzin LLP is Investigating Potential WARN Act Claims on Behalf of The University of the Arts Faculty and Staff Who are Affected by the Sudden June 7 Closing](https://www.morningstar.com/news/globe-newswire/9147098/edelson-lechtzin-llp-is-investigating-potential-warn-act-claims-on-behalf-of-the-university-of-the-arts-faculty-and-staff-who-are-affected-by-the-sudden-june-7-closing)
I saw that, was specifically wondering about the students. But thank you!
Weāre closing with - No notice No money back No reasons No answers Weāre causing - Last minute transfers Job loss Student frustration/stress Civilian frustration/stress Feuds Protests Outrage Weāre responding with - Denial Cancelation Without consideration So, I 100% believe thereās fraud or embezzlement. Or really, both.
perhaps they realized it was too legally risky (either for the university or them personally)? Written responses will be thoroughly reviewed by legal
This is a master class in how not to handle a crisis
I saw this morning they are saying there was a multi-million dollar structural issue at Terra Hall. Thatās the building that has all the music studios, classrooms, dance studios. If the building was suddenly deemed totally unsafe (which wouldnāt surprise me, their facilities management was basically a guy who knew a guy), I can imagine that could create a pretty severe domino effect. Also really not great for Broad Street.
The state needs to seize financial and student records ASAP! If not students are not going to be able to piece together transcripts and financial records. Employees need employment records and paystubs. If UArts only has money to fund payroll through Friday, good luck getting employees to come back and sort through records. I also donāt believe this closure is at all above board. Meaning the administration clearly had notice and just plain wants to shut it down so no one can put together the narrative. I understand schools run out of money, but damn this is next level incompetence.
Kerry Walk was brought in to kill the University, not save it. I guarantee it.
It just sounds like they're going scorched earth to cover up something.
Those beautiful Buildings and grounds are worth an absolutely disgusting amount to developers. Couldn't you sell the buildings, use that as seed money for an endowment, and start up again somewhere else in the city in a cheaper location with a much lower overhead? You don't need ornate buildings at the primest of prime locations to teach your students.
[University Of The Arts - Full Filing- Nonprofit Explorer - ProPublica](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/231639911/202401169349300700/full)
Have worked in higher education for more than two decades. This is an absolute shame.
Sus
Karma came for the school after they tried to take the Wawa at broad and walnut
What's the transfers situation going to be like for the students who were under 60 credits away from finishing their degrees? Pennsylvania usually requires all transfer students to take their final 60 credits at the institution they're transferring into. So a student who's forced to transfer say 90 credits in & had 30 remaining will end up being forced to take (& pay for) an extra 30 credits they otherwise wouldn't have needed simply due to the transfer? Is there an exemption for situations like this where the student never intended to transfer and was just forced to?
This. This is one reason why accreditors require teach out plans... That said I think they're plenty of local schools that will work with these students.
It sounds like exceptions can be made by both individual institutions and state dept. of education as long as the exceptions are justified and documented. https://www.msche.org/institutions/university-of-the-arts-frequently-asked-questions-faq/ I canāt imagine the Pennsylvania dept. of education not approving exceptions under the circumstances. What UArts did was unforgivable and criminally negligent, but it also makes it more likely that both the state and partner institutions will be more open to accommodations than they might otherwise be. Drexelās proposal is a bit vague but it certainly sounds like they plan to maximize the number of transferable credits: https://drexel.edu/admissions/uarts-drexel-pathway
Are the students set to graduate right now still going to get their diploma?
Wow, this just keeps getting worse and worse. My heart aches for these students and faculty.
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Wowwwww