Higher education
Luther Seminary reduces its faculty, staff Seminary moves toward financial viability for the future By Ann Hafften
L
uther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., will move ahead with 18 fewer staff members and eight fewer
faculty members after June. With some open positions remaining unfilled, total staff and faculty decreased from 125 to 95. The seminary announced March 19 a plan to reduce annual operat- ing expenses by at least $4 million. Tuition will not go up nor will the seminary back off on recruitment, said Rick Foss, interim president. “We have good people, and many
of them are hurting right now. We just had too many good people, more than we could afford. Some things won’t feel good no matter how well you handle them; we’re trying to handle them faithfully and well. I learned as a bishop during the Red River Flood in North Dakota that we all grieve at different rates and heal at different times,” Foss said in an interview. Luther’s doctoral program will not admit new students for three years. Foss said the faculty is explor- ing a new model for this program, which will continue to offer high- quality curriculum and will be financially viable for the future. The master of sacred music program, presently on hold, will not accept new students for now (see March, page 8).
In October 2012, Luther’s Board of Directors learned that spending was beyond the seminary’s means. Foss explained in a letter to the com- munity: “When we investigated the situation, we found we were overspending on an annual basis by several million dollars. Unfor-
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tunately, we were relying on loans from financial institutions, as well as from our endowment, to cover our expenses. While the money was being spent on excellent initiatives, including personnel, programs and innovative missional work, it was clear we could not sustain this rate of spending.”
Foss said, “Clearly finances were not working.” While the situation “came as a surprise,” he said “Luther is so strong, it’s like a really good student or athlete who can compensate for a while [in spite of mistakes]. Whether it was overconfidence or under com- petence, nobody meant ill. “It appears that we didn’t fully anchor our high-flying hopes in financial reality. Now we move for- ward in a more reality-based hope.” The board called for a reduction in expenses for fiscal year 2014 by at least $3 million. Foss said Luther will “make additional adjustments to begin pay- ing back [its] loans and fund [its] deferred maintenance. In light of this stark financial reality, the adminis- trative cabinet created a comprehen- sive plan to evaluate all program, faculty and staff expenses.” Five faculty members plan to retire June 30: Terry Fretheim, Fred Gaiser, Gracia Grindal, Roland Mar- tinson and Paul Westermeyer. Three faculty plan to take another
call on June 30: Carla Dahl, Mary Hinkle Shore and Christian Scharen, who will move to director of contex- tual learning at Luther. Foss said in a press release: “We will deeply miss the people who are
leaving us and are thankful for all their contributions.” Luther will continue to recruit students for its master of divinity, master of arts, master of theology, and doctor of ministry programs. “Luther’s mission is equipping
leaders for the world today, in com- munities so diverse that we will need all the innovation we can muster,” Foss said.
Hafften is a member of Messiah Lutheran Church, Weatherford, Texas.
Two art faculty members and their students at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn., will use one of 13 collaborative undergraduate research grants from the AsiaNetwork Free- man Student-Faculty Fellows Pro- gram to research printmaking and contemporary art in South Korea this summer. Associate professor Heidi Goldberg, assistant professor Susan Lee and six students will travel to Seoul and surrounding areas.
African immigrants are changing the face of Christianity in Europe and North America. To look at this phenomenon, A Center of Christian- Muslim Engagement for Peace and Justice at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago co-sponsored the 2013 World Mission Institute at LSTC’s Augustana Chapel April 18-19. The institute also examined African immigrants’ establishment of more than 5,000 Christian congre- gations, including mega-churches, in Kiev, Ukraine; London; and Wash- ington, D.C.
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