Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond will eliminate four of its 13 full-time faculty positions in a downsizing plan to be presented to trustees April 28. President Ron Crawford said the school is not yet ready to announce which professors are losing their jobs.
Crawford told EthicsDaily.com he is in dialogue with four faculty members offering severance packages that exceed a full year’s salary and benefits. Crawford said the plan also calls for reducing the number of full-time support-staff positions and replacing them with students who will work part time.
In a prepared statement sent out in an e-mail update, Crawford attributed the downsizing to “two unanticipated financial challenges” related to a capital campaign completed last year. He described them as “significant debt” and “a payroll that overreaches annual revenues.”