University of Akron

The Akron Bicentennial Autobiography Project is an eight week workshop that will guide participants through the steps of documenting their own histories.

Enrollment is up this fall for the University of Akron and Youngstown State University, but down for Cleveland State University and Kent State University as higher education continues to experience challenges with recruiting students amid lower birth rates.

The recommendation from a joint committee of faculty and administrators seeks to avoid 35 layoffs.

The university says it's trying to improve its overall financial outlook by increasing revenue and reducing operating costs. Job cuts for faculty are also on the horizon.

The move to hire the university's Department of Criminal Justice Studies comes after Akron City Council rejected Mayor Shammas Malik's plan to hire a national consulting firm last month, citing the $640,000 price tag.

UA is proposing cutting at least 10 faculty from the program, which has produced a significant number of graduates who work at polymer and plastics industries.

The university administration has told the faculty union of its proposed, providing a first look at what's ahead for the University of Akron as it navigates budget challenges due to declining enrollment. The proposal is not final.

The potential need for layoffs come just four years after the university already cut almost 200 staff during the early days of the pandemic.

Colleges and universities across the country are seeing enrollment losses stabilize after years of steep drops, but, the does not yet appear to be the case of UA.

UA President R.J. Nemer says the university needs to chart a new course to meet the challenges facing higher education, both in Ohio and nationally.