Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | April 7, 2025 | Worcester Business Journal 5 reer outcomes of our academic offerings, and honing operations for sustainable, long-term strength. is effort was fully underway in January 2024, including anticipation of potential enrollment declines due to national demographic shis," Clark said in the email. To not take prioritizing actions at this time, such as the program closures, would be irresponsible on the university's behalf, Clark wrote. "We deeply appreciate that change can be hard. Also, that our faculty are strongly committed to our university and our students, and that they are passionate about their fields. Our sincere hope and what we have been aiming for through our many months of collaboration is that we can achieve a shared path forward," Clark said in the email. Clark's decision to close the programs was made through consultation and agreement from the school's Planning and Budget Review Committee of faculty governance. WBJ named best-designed publication, wins seven New England journalism awards Led by two first place awards for design and presentation, Worcester Business Journal was honored with seven awards at the New England Newspaper & Press Association's 2024 New England Better Newspaper Competition on March 29 in Portland, Maine. On top of design, WBJ was recognized for reporting on the changing Canal District neighborhood, issues with Worcester's parking requirements, old community theaters, the Greater Worces- ter media landscape, and the Power 100 edition. Overall, the publication won two first place awards, one second place award, and four third place awards. "Every day, WBJ's team of hard-work- ing journalists bring incredible news and insight to the Central Massachusetts business community," WBJ Editor Brad Kane said. "Receiving so many great awards from NENPA is a testament to this work and an incredible honor for our team." WBJ's two first place awards were won by Art Director Mitchell Hayes. He won for Overall Design and Presentation of a Specialty Publication for his work designing WBJ, as well as Overall Design and Presentation of a Special Section for his work on the publication's Outstand- ing Women in Business Awards 15th anniversary edition. WBJ Managing Editor Eric Casey won second place in the Business/Economic Clark University to shutter three degree programs, amid existential challenges Clark University in Worcester will close three degree programs and recon- figure a fourth, citing a greater-than-ex- pected enrollment decline in its current first-year class, as well as unspecified existential challenges. roughout the next two to three years, Clark will sunset majors and mi- nors in its Francophone studies, ancient civilization, and comparative literature. e university will redesign its studio arts major. Students enrolled in the degree tracks will be able to finish the programs, but new students will not be able to enroll for the majors and minors. e courses have already been removed from the uni- versity's 2025-2026 academic calendar, according to a statement from Clark emailed to WBJ. e school's language, literature, and culture department, which houses the Francophone studies, ancient civilization, and comparative literature programs, is working on a new proposed major to include some content from the current programs. e university's studio art major is being redesigned to address a number of challenges within the program, especially its reliance on part-time faculty. Clark is working with its Becker School of Design and Technology and its computer science department to develop the major, which is anticipated to be available in fall 2026. Clark's studio arts minor will continue to be offered. e program closures have not yet resulted in layoffs, although Clark said personnel decisions have not been made, according to its statement. e programs' discontinuation is part of a broader university strategic planning and prioritizing initiative that took on greater urgency due to challenges facing higher education and the school's enroll- ment decline, the latter the university said is partly attributed to the mishan- dled FAFSA rollout of 2024. "e overriding goals have been three- fold: building even deeper distinction in areas of historic prestige, prioritizing ca- E X P E R T I S E M A K E S A L L T H E D I F F E R E N C E When you arrive at a certain size, your banking needs become more complex. With Country Bank's commercial banking team, you get customized problem-solving, higher lending limits, industry expertise, and highly responsive service. Clark University Continued on next page

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