As student enrollment continues to drop at Eastern Gateway Community College since the loss of its Free College benefits program, changes are being made to its staff to "right size" the college.

During a meeting held Jan. 17, the college's board of trustees approved a resolution to reduce the number of staff positions at the college by 28. 

According to Dennis Willard, the media spokesperson for the college, the cuts are being made due to the continued drop in student enrollment at the college.

As it stands, just 9,000 students are attending the college, down from 15,000 recorded in 2023.

"The number of employees must be adjusted to financially operate a 9,000 student population, not a 15,000 student population," said Interim President John Crooks during the meeting.

Additionally, the cuts are part of a financial recovery plan required by the Ohio Department of Higher Education, which gave the college a $6 million cash advance to assure adequate financial access last year.

The nature of the cuts came as a surprise to the college faculty union; members say they're unhappy about what they call a lack of transparency carried out by the board, according to Jim Corrin, the union's president.

"We are just finding out [about the cuts]," Corrin tells 21 News. "The college administration is not giving us any information about the cuts. We've asked for meetings to talk about these changes but they haven't responded."

Corrin says the union is committed to following the collective bargaining agreement they have in place and will make sure the board will do the same during this process. As for what happens next, Corrin told our Chris Cerenelli "we have been in touch with OEA, our labor relations officer is involved, so OEA is getting involved more now. We're just going to probably just keep plugging away forward."

Below is a copy of EGCC's Financial Recovery Plan: