Sophomore graduate student Blair Webber said sometimes classes are filled with discussions about financial difficulties.

“I would prefer not to waste my class time pestering my professors about the state of the school,” he said. “It is clear to me that being more sustainable for the school is actually more profitable. “It horrifies me that the person they profit from is me, who gets so little in return.”

Administrators said their focus is on the long-term survival of the institution during a challenging time in higher education. Universities across the country are grappling with declining enrollment rates and rising expenses, locked in a constant competition to lure students away from rivals. There are more than 20 colleges in Massachusetts closed or merged Over the past decade, he has moved on to larger institutions and even Lesley’s mighty neighbor, Harvard University. Reports smaller business surplus this fall After a tumultuous school year.

Lesley has a $100 million restructuring plan President Janet Steinmayer said the school cuts are “working as intended.” consolidating academic programs, downsizing staff, and selling unused buildings.

Money is now flowing into expanded student spaces and Lesley’s retail presence on Massachusetts Avenue. (He owns the former Sears building where the house is located. Porter Square Books’ new second outpost And moved the famous udon outpost Yume Ga Arakaru They hope these improvements, along with a new program that will connect students with potential employers the day they step on campus, can help increase enrollment. The number of new students increased by nearly 1,000 this year, offsetting some of the declines experienced over the past decade.

“Our plan is working, as it not only stabilizes our financial situation but also positions us correctly,” Steinmayer said. “But it works in a way that means it will take time for everything to come to fruition.”

It will be a tough hill to climb: Lesley’s total income fell 40 percent between 2015 and 2022, according to public data, depleting school reserves and forcing the school to rely more heavily on tuition fees to stay afloat. Each year since 2017, Lesley has spent more of its endowment on operational expenses than a typical institution, and last year, it earmarked more than 8 percent of its nearly $180 million fund to cover university expenses.

“This is unsustainable,” said Gary Stocker, founder of College Viability, which monitors college finances. “Because at some point they will have consumed so much that they won’t have enough to work with.”

Many faculty members also have concerns. In a February letter, the professors alleged that the university “grossly” distorted data on enrollment and faculty churn to justify layoffs, and a majority of professors repeatedly voted “no confidence” vs. Steinmayertrustees and trustees.

Meanwhile, remaining professors are shouldering the workload of laid-off colleagues, and about a dozen faculty members have been shifted from teaching classes to full-time administrative roles in various academic departments. Lesley now relies more on part-time adjunct professors to teach classes, two faculty members said, and a variety of extra-paying duties long performed by faculty members, such as department chairs, committee roles and curriculum design duties, have been set aside.

In an interview, Steinmayer said the change reflects the school’s effort to take non-academic responsibilities off professors and save money by consolidating administrative responsibilities.

There are also ongoing union negotiations that Jason Butler, a professor of expressive therapies who stepped down as department chair in December, says are adding insult to injury.

The university’s latest contract offer to the faculty union includes a 1 percent annual cost-of-living increase, well below inflation in recent years. The union said little progress had been made in negotiations in the last month since the contract expired. Earnings of highest-paid university employees also increased tax applications. Steinmayer’s salary, for example, jumped from $257,642 in 2020 to $589,949 last year.

“I don’t think anyone else in the organization would say there’s no need to make adjustments,” Butler said. “But the way these adjustments were made was difficult and problematic.”

Management prefers to focus on the future. Lesley recently launched renovations to Reed and Burnham halls and announced a new $5 million scholarship fund for students in Maine; These are signs that things may be changing for the better.

“We can all name things we feel sorry for that have personally changed the way we work,” said Stephanie Spadorcia, assistant principal for education at Lesley and a former faculty member. “But my colleagues are generally looking for positives that we can build on.”

Drama therapy master’s student Fiona Doyle, 25, said her course experiences had been “diminished” by fewer resources and training. Still, some students, already frustrated and eager to protest, may not stay if Lesley backs down even further he said. Threat to the department’s accreditation.

“I have no active transfer plans,” Doyle said. “But it feels like the writing is on the wall.”

Diti Kohli can be reached at [email protected]. follow him @ditikohli_.