Earlham College’s work to reduce personnel expenses will affect 109 roles, including 47 people who were notified this week that their positions have been eliminated or not renewed.
Earlham President Paul Sniegowski shared the update in a message sent to the campus community on Friday, Dec. 19.
“After months of meetings and broad consultation, the College has now notified personnel whose positions have been eliminated by approval of the board of trustees. All such notifications were sent by the end of the business day yesterday, Thursday, December 18,” Sniegowski wrote. “No further personnel notifications in this budget-cutting effort will go out from this point forward.”
Those who received the notices this week are being given 6 to 15 months of advance notice to facilitate a “helpful period of transition.” Affected hourly staff, administrative faculty, and nontenured teaching faculty will conclude their employment June 30, 2026, with tenured teaching faculty concluding a year later, though some eligible teaching faculty are being offered the option of early retirement instead.
Sniegowski said 31 other positions were eliminated through attrition from a hiring freeze in place since May, 22 positions were eliminated through voluntary separations and early retirements this fall, and nine positions were reduced through other retirements. About 41% of the total positions being reduced are teaching faculty roles.
Earlham’s efforts to decrease personnel expenses will result in savings of about $9.9 million, according to a news release. College officials say the work is part of “a broad plan to ensure its financial sustainability and eliminate its long-standing structural deficit by 2030.”
Western Wayne News first reported on the plan and anticipated cuts Oct. 20. The college has been operating at a $15 million deficit annually over the past decade.
Earlham acknowledges that the reductions affect all areas of the college’s operations and programming, including academic programs, athletics, administrative faculty, teaching faculty, staff, and the Earlham School of Religion.
Sniegowski said that some of the impact is still to be determined. “In the coming years, certain academic departments and majors will be reduced or discontinued, and administrative offices will be restructured,” he wrote. “The exact details of these changes remain to be worked out by our faculty and administrative committees in the next few months.”
Earlham’s website says the restructuring will prioritize programs and majors that reflect student interest along with focus areas historically distinctive to Earlham, and notes that “what will not change at Earlham is our commitment to our Quaker values that are guiding us through this challenging time, as well as our dedication to the success of our students as they pursue their degrees and meaningful work in the world. This includes our commitment to making Earlham affordable for its students.”
More information is available at earlham.edu/faqs.
A version of this article appeared in the December 24 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.