Seabury-Western gives notice to all faculty, cuts staff

Decision comes in response to 'financial crisis that threatens survival of the institution'

By Mary Frances Schjonberg, April 24, 2008

[Episcopal News Service] Seabury-Western Theological Seminary's trustees told the faculty of the school April 24 that their appointments will end June 30, 2009.

The Evanston, Illinois, school also eliminated nine staff positions, effective for most of them on May 23 -- a week after graduation and the school’s 150th anniversary celebrations.

The moves came after a special board meeting in which the trustees declared that the seminary "is in (a state of) financial crisis that threatens survival of the institution."

"This is an especially painful and difficult decision to make and announce," said Seabury Dean and President Gary Hall in a statement. "However, it became clear during the past 18 months that the seminary’s endowment and other income sources are not capable of sustaining a traditional residential seminary program."

On February 20, the Evanston, Illinois-based seminary announced a major restructuring and discernment period. Saying that the seminary "cannot continue to operate as we have in the past," officials announced that the school will stop offering the traditional version of a Master of Divinity degree and would soon develop "a detailed plan for the future operation of Seabury, including a financial plan that brings expenses in line with revenues." The faculty and staff cut emerged from a committee that was set up to review the school's finances.

The scope of the seminary's financial problems was made clear to the trustees at the February meeting when they learned that that income from tuition, fees, and endowment resources would be insufficient to overcome an ongoing deficit of nearly $500,000 per year. Tuition at Seabury is $13,000 while the actual cost per student is more than $50,000. The trustees said in the April 24 statement that sustaining that $37,000 expenditure gap over a period of more than two decades had exhausted the seminary’s resources despite an increase in alumni/ae and other giving during the past few years.

The seminary currently has an estimated $2.9 million in accumulated debt -- likely to climb to $3.5 million later this year because of transition costs, according to the Seabury statement.

The board also attempted to raise money to eliminate its current debt load. A strategic planning process showed in October 2006 that at least $10 million would be needed to eliminate that debt and increase the school's endowment, while $8.7 million could be targeted program development and campus renovation to support any new programs.
"The $18.7 million goal significantly exceeded Seabury’s fundraising capabilities," the statement said.

"At its heart, Seabury will always be a school in service of the mission of God as proclaimed and enacted in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ," Hall said. "We simply cannot sustain our mission with limited resources and by using a traditional model of ministry education."

In February the board suspended admissions recruitment for its three-year residential master of divinity (MDiv) program, its master in theological studies (MTS), two doctor of ministry (DMin) and certificate programs. Students currently enrolled in the MDiv and DMin programs will be allowed to finish their degrees at Seabury. Some courses may be taken at other Chicago-area seminaries.

Hall said in a separate letter to the Seabury community that nearby Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary has agreed to accommodate Seabury's continuing students so that they can graduate in 2009 and 2010 with Seabury degrees.

During their April 24 meeting the trustees declared "financial exigency" -- the technical term for determining a financial crisis that threatens the survival of an institution – thus allowing the trustees to end faculty tenure and terminate faculty positions. Faculty will receive full salary and benefits in the 2008-2009 academic year and teach a reduced course load so that they have opportunity to search for a new position, according to the news release. Staff will have separation benefits that include severance pay, payment for unused vacation, continuation of health benefits, unemployment benefits, and career counseling.

"Faculty understand the precarious financial situation of the seminary and have appreciated being consulted in the decisions leading to the board’s declaration of exigency," Dr. Ruth A. Meyers, the school's academic dean and professor of liturgics, said in the release. "While there is a range of emotion as they face an uncertain future, there is also tremendous good will and support for one another, for students and staff, and for the institution."

Hall said that the seminary's "primary work right now is caring for the people in the Seabury community whose lives are being dramatically disrupted."

"While we need to look to what Seabury might become in the future, we have focused almost all of our energies on the immediate concerns facing those around us," he said.

The Rev. Elizabeth Butler, vice president for advancement and administration, said in the statement that the reality of "dismantling the current structure of our beloved institution" is causing "profound grief on so many levels."

The trustees have investigated future program options, including merging with another institution, offering non-residential programs, and distance learning, according to the statement.

"The administration is optimistic that it can resume offering the doctoral programs in preaching and congregational development that have been a hallmark of Seabury for many years," the statement said. "The trustees plan to focus on future plans during the coming months."

Hall wrote in his letter that "even in the midst of the personal costs of this transition" he believes that the school is "moving into a new vision of sustainable, excellent, and deep theological education which can serve the church creatively as it changes over the next century."

Part of a larger trend

The seminary's moves to deal with financial challenges are not unique. The Episcopal Church-affiliated seminary Bexley Hall decided in February to close its Rochester, New York, campus and concentrate on its affiliation with Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio.

In March, Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts announced that Lesley University, a 12,000-student, multi-site university, would buy seven buildings from EDS for $33.5 million, while EDS will retain ownership of 13 buildings on its eight acre campus.

All Episcopal and other mainline seminaries have faced rising costs and stagnant or declining enrollments for the past 30 years while higher education costs have accelerated, Seabury's April 24 release noted.

The deans of the 11 Episcopal Church-affiliated seminaries have been discussing for more than a year how their schools must adapt to major changes in forces influencing how theological education is provided to members of many faith traditions. Seminaries are increasingly faced with a shrinking number of people pursuing ordination and parochial employment, many of those who do attend cannot or do not want to get their education in the traditional three-year resident model that has been the hallmark of Episcopal seminaries.

That challenge is paired with growing deficits incurred through the high costs of providing theological education on campus whose aging buildings demanded an ever-larger portion of the schools' budgets. The deans have been clear to say that their context is similar to that facing many other denominational seminaries, and both undergraduate and graduate education in general.

The seminaries have been exploring partnerships in distance learning, local ministry development programs (perhaps in partnership with specific dioceses), Hispanic-Latino ministry preparation and the possibility of offering a collaborative Doctor of Ministry degree in Africa.

In his letter, Hall said Seabury has large questions that are still unanswered, such as what kinds of institutional (school/diocese/congregation) partnerships make sense for Seabury, what is the best use of the current property and campus, what endowment resources will remain after the school's debts and deficit is handled, what kinds faculty and staff will be needed in the future and what model or models of theological education can Seabury offer the wider church.

-- The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is Episcopal Life Media correspondent for Episcopal Church governance, structure, and trends, as well as news of the dioceses of Province II. She is based in Neptune, New Jersey, and New York City.