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Nearly two dozen employees, or 13 percent of the workforce, at Bloomfield College will lose their jobs as part of the merger with Montclair State University, according to NJ.com.
Of those 22 employees, 10 are faculty members, NJ.com reported.
The workforce reduction comes as the two institutions prepare to merge this summer. Montclair State University will absorb Bloomfield College in a deal minted last fall after Bloomfield president Marcheta Evans made a public appeal for help in 2021 to stave off a potential closure.
The merger is a unique example of a public institution, Montclair State, acquiring a struggling private college, which is uncommon in higher education.
The workforce cuts are indicative of broader challenges in mergers as colleges come together. Oftentimes the acquiring partner will shed employees to avoid duplication in certain areas or trim programs, as St. Joseph’s University did earlier this year when officials dropped four Ph.D. programs it acquired after it absorbed the University of the Sciences.
Montclair State president Jonathan Koppell told NJ.com that the university was trying to offer jobs to as many Bloomfield employees as possible while being “good financial stewards.”
