Southern Seminary makes staff cutbacks

Southern Seminary makes staff cutbacks

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) in Louisville, Ky., in response to the national economic downturn, has reduced its administrative staff by 35 positions: 20 full-time and 15 part-time, effective Jan. 30.

Each person will receive a severance package, including placement assistance, according to a mid-January news release from the seminary.

No faculty members were included in the staffing reductions.

The workforce reduction, combined with budget cuts made in December, are designed to close a projected $3.2 million shortfall in the seminary’s $30 million budget, the news release stated, and will “place the seminary in a stronger financial position for 2009.”

Tuition for the 2009–2010 academic year will increase by just under 10 percent according to current projections, SBTS President R. Albert Mohler Jr. wrote in a letter e-mailed to the seminary community. The increase, he said, is akin to the tuition increase for the current academic year.

Work will continue on capital projects that already have been contracted and funded, but no new projects will begin until economic conditions improve, according to the news release. On Dec. 18, the seminary announced that it had reduced its budget by $1.7 million, including the halt in various capital projects along with reductions in travel expenses.

“The national economic downturn has resulted in reductions in Southern Seminary’s primary revenue sources, a situation common to higher education at this time,” the news release stated.

“We are certainly watching the Cooperative Program income as directed through the state conventions and the Southern Baptist Convention into Southern Seminary’s budget,” Mohler said in the e-mailed letter. “We can never presume upon the performance of the Cooperative Program in troubled times, but I am confident that our churches will do everything possible to maintain their own stewardship and investment in this important work and mission.”

To date, the North American Mission Board (see story below); Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas; national Woman’s Missionary Union; and LifeWay Christian Resoures also have announced budget cuts. (BP)