Constrained by state-imposed budget cuts, Weber State University is overhauling its College of Education — which trains a significant portion of the state’s K-12 teachers.
The Ogden school announced in an email sent to faculty Thursday that it is eliminating the top administrative position of dean of the college and folding the college’s departments in with other studies at Weber State. Fears from professors spread quickly on social media, with many worried what the shift would mean for their jobs.
In the message, Weber President Brad Mortensen and Provost Ravi Krovi wrote: “We understand that changes of this magnitude bring questions and concerns.” The school shared the email with The Salt Lake Tribune on Friday to “provide as much clarity as possible.”
The university will provide some answers when it hosts a town hall for College of Education faculty, Monday at 3 p.m. at Lindquist Hall on the Ogden campus. Professors may attend in person or online.
So far, the university has not said that any faculty will be laid off. But, a university spokesperson confirmed, the changes announced Thursday aren’t the only ones coming. Weber is looking at leaving several open administrative positions vacant to save money.
The Utah Legislature, in the session that ended earlier this month, approved $60 million in budget cuts for the state’s eight public institutions of higher education. Each school’s portion depends on its size and resources.
Weber State, with an enrollment just under 33,000 students, is expected to lose $6.7 million in cuts under the base budget bill, HB1. Another bill the Legislature passed, HB265, sets up a process where schools can earn their reduction back, if they can prove the money will be used to bolster high-wage and high-demand programs.
The cuts came as lawmakers had strong criticisms over higher education spending and what some called “administrative bloat.” Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz said he wanted the state’s school to be more financially conservative. A state-commissioned audit instructed schools to save money by cutting “inefficient” programs that have few graduates, little job growth and lead to lower-paying careers.
Weber State’s College of Education has been without a permanent dean for more than a year after Kristin Hadley left the post. Cass Morgan, the associate dean and a professor, has served as the interim dean.
In searching for a new leader, Mortensen and Krovi said the restrictions under HB265 made it “increasingly clear that we should consider realigning academic programs” and saving money on administrative salaries.
Last year, Morgan was making about $134,600 in the position, counting benefits, with another $12,000 in supplemental pay, according to Utah’s transparent public employee salary data online.
The plan outlined in the letter from Mortensen and Krovi would move the four departments that comprise the Jerry & Vicki Moyes College of Education — child and family studies; teacher education; exercise and nutrition science; and health, physical education and recreation — into another existing college or colleges at Weber.
Those departments’ new homes would be “among closely related” fields, the school said. It’s not clear if the departments will remain intact, with their current department heads, or see further changes.
“The academic programs within the College of Education will remain at Weber State in some form,” university spokesperson Bryan Magaña said.
It’s likely, according to Mortensen and Krovi’s letter, that at least one restructured college would be renamed to keep “education” and the Moyes name in its title. Those, the officials said, are “of the utmost importance.”
“This opportunity has the potential to strengthen academic partnerships and interdisciplinary collaboration to help academic programs thrive,” Mortensen and Krovi added in their message, “as we navigate enrollment and budgetary challenges.”
A new education building while enrollment dips
The overhaul of Weber State’s College of Education comes at a strange time, with the newly renovated David O. McKay Education Building set to reopen this June, later than scheduled because of construction delays.
The project cost about $47 million, with the state paying$43 million of it.
Hadley, the former dean, said in 2023 that the McKay Building would “provide a setting for innovative educational practices” and “enable our students to be prepared for their careers as effective professionals.”
In their letter to faculty, Mortensen and Krovi said the college restructuring will not change the plans to open that space. “We know you are excited to return to your offices in that structure and use the new classrooms and educational spaces,” they wrote.
The College of Education has seen declining enrollment in recent years. In 2020, 1,680 students were enrolled. That number has dropped every year since, and this fall the college has 1,377 students.
Of this fall’s students, the biggest group is in the elementary education major, with 327. Exercise and sport science comes in second, with 302 students. Of the college’s 29 programs and majors, including graduate degrees, a handful had no students enrolled, according to Weber’s online data tool.
The state, overall, is also critically understaffed in its K-12 schools, with a teacher shortage that has persisted for years.
A 2023 study from Envision Utah estimated that about 1,500 students graduate each year and are ready to become teachers in Utah. At the same time, about 3,000 teachers leave the profession annually.
It will take time, and later enrollment data, before it’s clear if restructuring Weber State’s College of Education will affect how many future teachers choose to go there and graduate in the field.
Overall, the state is also expected to face a higher education enrollment cliff in the coming years, likely hitting the hardest in 2032.
What a job pays, and what a job’s worth
When Utah lawmakers proposed budget cuts to higher education this session, some raised concerns that liberal arts programs would be the first to be chopped, along with programs like teaching, which don’t pay a lot — even with lawmakers approving a bonus for educators.
Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, was the only lawmaker to vote against HB1. She also works in K-12 education, and noted that everyone in her family has been a civil servant. Often, she said during one debate this session, people go into a career as a life calling.
“It shouldn’t all be about the dollars and the cents,” Riebe said. “There are a lot of jobs out there that are important to our community but don’t pay a lot.”
Mortensen was also among those who spoke up for the humanities and social sciences. He said those subjects provide a cultural good that can be hard to quantify.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Brad Mortensen speaks at his inauguration as the president of Weber State University in Ogden on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020.
Utah’s commissioner over higher education, Geoff Landward, said in January that the job-market-focused data considered for cuts at each school would also include a metric valuing careers that benefit the state, such as social workers and educators. “These are critical needs,” he said.
Besides eliminating the post of College of Education dean, Weber State has said it won’t fill four other open administrative positions: Vice president of information technology; assistant vice president of regional partnerships; vice provost for high impact educational experiences and faculty; and training lead for student success.
Meanwhile, Utah State University has taken a different approach to the budget cuts — by asking faculty and staff for voluntary resignations. If enough employees don’t step down, interim President Alan Smith has said the school will need to consider other alternatives, “including potential layoffs and other operational reductions.”
The University of Utah has started with a budget exercise looking at 10% reductions across the board, with up to 25% for student services.
Each of the state’s higher education institutions is working on plans now that will be presented to the Utah System of Higher Education this summer for approval, before a final checkoff from the Utah Legislature’s Executive Appropriations Committee in September.
