The conflict began in April when Browning confirmed that the college planned to eliminate 10 full-time faculty positions over the summer, shuttering multiple programs in the process. Browning said BMCC needed to cut more than $1 million in personnel costs to address declining student enrollment. Blue Mountain Community College’s student body was less than half the size it was 10 years ago, a trend Browning said was being accelerated by a strong labor market. “An essential part of community colleges is that when the economy in general is doing well, unemployment is low, wages are up,” he said, “that’s not a good time for us. We typically suffered downward enrollment during those times. And that certainly has been the case here.”
