By Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed

Sierra Nevada College is among the small liberal arts colleges facing financial and enrollment difficulties this year. It has about 500 undergraduates, and the administration acknowledges that it is running behind targets on the enrollment of new students for the fall. In May, the month when faculty members typically receive contracts for the next year, the college announced that no contracts would be given out until August, leaving many on campus worried about their job security.

This month, the Incline Village college notified six full-time faculty members that their jobs were being eliminated, while several other full-timers were told that their hours were being reduced. For a college with 43 full-time faculty members, that’s a serious cut.

But what is drawing particular concern from professors at the college is that those who are losing jobs include the chair and vice chair of the Faculty Council. The chair has been speaking out about the direction of the college, charging that its liberal arts mission is being eroded, and that there are ways for the college to save money without eroding academics. The vice chair has been talking about inviting union officials to visit campus to organize the faculty.

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