Staff report
After threatening to close the College of St. Joseph last month, the board of trustees voted 13-3 to keep it open on Monday night, May 7.
“I am very excited and very thankful that the trustees showed their support,” said CSJ President Larry Jensen. “The challenges haven’t gone away. We still have to meet those challenges.”
The struggling private liberal arts college, which has been around since the 1950s, has lost about $1 million a year for the past three years, said Jensen. There are currently about 350 students enrolled at the college and the enrollment continues to decline.
“We’ve clearly got to preserve cash— particularly this summer,” said Jensen.
Jensen said the college plans to diversify its income by using its traumatology program to provide training for hospitals, ambulance services and police departments. The college also plans to open a childcare center and has other initiatives planned.
Jensen, who has been at the college for two years, recently announced his retirement.
The goal for the next year is to produce a positive bottom line, said Jensen.He hopes the suite of new programs helps the college do that.
“We know now, very, very seriously, we have to executive those plans and make them happen,” said Jensen.