River Valley Community College on Thursday announced six layoffs and the reduction of five other employees’ hours across its main campus in Claremont and its Lebanon and Keene branches.
Those and other cuts, which will take effect in June, come in response to collegewide budgetary issues and will affect staff, administration and faculty, the school said in a news release.
In response to student demand, RVCC will no longer offer full associate degrees in English and creative writing, school officials said, although some courses in those subjects still will be available.
“These changes are very difficult, but necessary,” interim President Ali Rafieymehr, who took office in January, said in the release. “We all understand that our public mission requires that we look at how effectively we are using resources and meeting the most pressing needs of our region and state, within our budgetary means.
“In recent weeks I have been very open with the faculty and staff about communicating the need for these measures, along with my gratitude at the teamwork and commitment to reducing expenses in areas other than personnel. That said, we do not have the enrollment growth to support our current staffing levels.”
Rafieymehr declined an interview request on Thursday, but said via email that the cuts would not change academics at the college.
“There are no effects on students or classes and we anticipate a positive future for the Lebanon Academic Center and RVCC,” he said in an email.
Other programs, such as engineering technology, will see restructuring, said Shannon Reid, spokeswoman for the Community College System of New Hampshire.
Although many students are interested in engineering technology courses, relatively few complete degrees in that subject, she said, so RVCC will aim to have students transition to four-year colleges to study it, or aim to have them graduate into jobs with an engineering-related credential.
RVCC opened classes in Lebanon last year to fill the void left by Lebanon College, which closed abruptly amid budgetary issues in 2014.
Rose Rode, a Lebanon resident who began courses at the city branch soon after it opened, said the community college’s latest expansion had been a boon to her and other local residents.
“I’m so happy they have this campus,” she said after registering for an English-learning course on campus on Thursday. “It’s very convenient. I hope this can stay open.”
Rode, an immigrant from China, said she had obtained a postsecondary degree there but had found language a barrier in adapting to her new locale. RVCC, with courses not only in language but in business administration, where she is pursuing a degree, was a great help, she said.
“This program helped give me confidence in learning how to set up a business locally,” she said, referring to a clothing business — uniforms and tailored dresses — that she hopes to set up with help from RVCC training programs and her manufacturing connections in China.
Reid said the Lebanon academic center is less than one year old and is ramping up enrollment, with about 115 students enrolled there in the fall semester. RVCC’s budget challenges stem from enrollment across all three locations, she said, which is down just over 5 percent from the 2014 to 2016 academic years.
“We consider Lebanon and the surrounding region to be an important service area for River Valley Community College,” Reid said. “We will continue to work with area high schools, with employers and with other prospective students including adults seeking to strengthen their career prospects, to build important pathways to skilled employment in the Upper Valley.”
Rafieymehr, the school’s interim president, oversaw an assessment of the college’s position with the goal of “bringing about financial sustainability,” the release said. Along with the cuts, he has made changes to accommodate student schedules and to spread coverage over a wider range of hours.
“While these measures will result in needed cost savings, they should also result in a better focusing of resources,” Rafieymehr said in the release. “Colleges across the country, of every type, are having to re-tool in response to both internal and external factors, and River Valley is no exception.”
Rob Wolfe can be reached at rwolfe@vnews.com or 603-727-3242.