The Arkansas State University System Board of Trustees voted today to certify Henderson State University’s recommendation of financial exigency. 

The university’s website was updated Monday, March 28, to note that the provost and Financial Exigency Committee will begin “developing recommendations over the next 30 days to reduce or eliminate instructional programs as well as terminate and/or reduce employment of faculty. We anticipate that the overall compression of the academic programs will be approximately 30-40 percent for a permanent reduction of spend and/or reallocation of instruction.”

The ASU System Board will consider recommendations from the chancellor, provost, and Financial Exigency Committee in May.

Henderson will be looking at four areas to determine which academic programs get cut:

• Net cost of delivery and overall net revenue
• Cost of instruction defined at the seat level
• Student success rates with weighted priority for degree completion
• Alignment to community-based needs and 21st century durable skills

Actively enrolled students and freshmen entering in Fall 2022 will be supported to complete degrees in areas where academic programs may get cut, the website noted. 

“We have reached the most difficult part of our efforts to improve our immediate cash position and restore the overall financial health at Henderson,” Chancellor Chuck Ambrose said in a letter to the Henderson community. Read his letter here: