DE PERE (NBC 26) — St. Norbert College (SNC) is midway through a process that could see tenured faculty members lose their jobs, as the school grapples with financial challenges. This comes after another round of layoffs early last year.
Faculty and staff members, students, parents and alumni are learning about the layoffs in a series of town halls Tuesday and Wednesday.
School leaders spoke exclusively with NBC 26 about the potential layoffs.
“These are really heart-wrenching decisions, and it's a really difficult process,” SNC president Laurie Joyner said, “but I'm really proud that, from my first days on this campus, I've been as honest as I could be with everyone.”
Joyner initiated a process called retrenchment, which is a series of steps required to terminate tenured faculty members. The school’s Faculty Handbook says retrenchment only happens in cases of a “bona fide financial emergency or unavoidable program change.”
“If [the college] continues on its current path, it would deteriorate the financial condition,” Joyner said. “That's grounds for retrenchment.”
The retrenchment process also comes as the school adds two new athletic programs and builds a new business school. NBC 26 asked the president about those investments during a time of financial need.
“We'll never be able to cut ourselves to prosperity,” Joyner said. “We recognize that. So from the earliest days of my tenure, we've not only been looking to live within our means, but fully recognize that we have to invest, and we have to be student-centered, by investing in areas that they're interested in.”
Joyner said she was told the school was facing a deficit of more than $2 million when she arrived as president in 2023 — now, the school says it needs to reduce the fiscal year 2026 budget by $7 million.
“Our balance sheet is strong,” Joyner said. “The challenges that we're facing are with our annual operating budget because of demographic changes.”
After Joyner kicked off the retrenchment process, a faculty group had come up with a list of programs recommended for potential elimination to the vice president. The vice president then formed her own list, and met individually with faculty members who may be laid off — meetings completed in the past week, according to the school. The affected people can now request a review by the faculty Personnel Committee.
After the committee reviews each case, the vice president will then present her list of recommendations to the president, who will then give her own list to the school’s Board of Trustees.
"The Board of Trustees can call a special meeting," Joyner said. "It could be as early as March. I would anticipate it wouldn't be any later than April."
Faculty members who are affected will be given 10 months' notice or the equivalent severance pay, per the Faculty Handbook.
The school says that these cuts will likely occur prior to the 2025-26 school year, but promises that students in affected programs will be able to finish their degree.
“We have looked at every single student who has declared any of the programs that we are potentially putting forward that will be recommended for elimination to determine that they will be able to complete their program of study,” Vice President and Chief Academic Officer Valerie Martin Conley said, “or if they do decide they want to change to a different major, that we will work with them individually to make that happen.”
Martin Conley declined to mention the exact number of programs or faculty on the list to be cut, citing the ongoing retrenchment process, but confirmed that tenured faculty members would be among those affected.
NBC 26 asked Martin Conley about reports that the theology program would be affected — she hinted that it would.
“We will continue to teach Theology and Religious Studies here at St. Norbert College,” Martin Conley said. “We will more likely be teaching the courses in different ways than we have up to this point.”
NBC 26 will continue to follow this story. You can reach De Pere neighborhood reporter Karl Winter via email at karl.winter@nbc26.com
