Art Institute of Seattle lays off all but 3 full-time teachers amid fears for school's future
Students returned to The Art Institute of Seattle this fall to find some classes canceled, as 10 of 13 full-time teachers had just been laid off.
The Art Institutes, a group of art colleges nationwide, have been plagued with performance and financial troubles. Dream Center Foundation, a faith-based nonprofit, acquired the schools from the bankrupt for-profit Education Management Corporation last year. Of the 31 Art Institutes campuses currently open, 18 will close by the end of the year, including the Portland campus. The Dream Center also acquired South University and Argosy University last year.
The layoffs come as the Washington Student Achievement Council, which oversees degree authorization and financial-aid eligibility for schools in the state, is considering designating the Seattle school an “at-risk” institution, council policy spokesperson Emily Persky said. This classification would allow the council to impose restrictions on new programs and even suspend or withdraw the school’s authorization to operate.
A Dream Center spokesperson said in an email the changes were made to better align the company with “its mission to provide students with accessible, affordable, relevant and purposeful education” and resulted in the elimination of less than three percent of employees. It was unclear whether the spokesperson meant for the Seattle campus or Art Institutes nationwide, as she did not respond to attempts to contact her over six days, but according to a list of affected positions distributed to employees, the cuts affected 15 percent of staff at the Seattle campus.
Read more: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/art-institute-of-seattle-lays-off-all-but-3-full-time-teachers-amid-fears-for-schools-future/
= new reply since forum marked as read
