Thread regarding DeVry Inc. layoffs

So well put @HnckrFp-rtt. The place is quickly becoming a bad joke. I no longer say where I work when asked, I just say I work in higher ed. It's not a place to be proud of anymore.

In my eight years with DeVry, there have been constant changes. I loved the job when I first started. Of course I had my complaints because no job is perfect, but I was as happy as I had ever been. With the recent improvements that had been made just prior to my start, I was proud to be a part of it. Things continued to improve for a couple of years afterward too -- increased academic rigor, improved quality in courses, more support for students, increased involvement in industry events, and other meaningful upgrades. Students were landing great jobs and I was proud of that.

Then things gradually started to decline. I think it started when professors lost academic freedom, being forced to adopt standardized course content rather than teaching the courses as they saw fit. Then more and more oppressive elements began to descend upon us -- more frequent observations and performance reviews, increased expectations for university service, and various other instances of micro-management and additional (uncompensated) obligations. Then the layoffs started the elimination of key people, some who had been with us for over 20 years. Then more layoffs, and just this week, more still. Those of use who survive are carrying double or triple duty to make up for the loss, are still held to the same quality standards, and it's about to get worse.

I wish I could say the decline only affects employees, but sadly, it's just as bad or worse for students. With our depleted resources, we can't offer the same number of classes we used to. Students are forced to choose from a limited selection of courses each session, and frequently, those courses do not match up with their needs, forcing them to either take an unwanted course, take something online, risk losing their financial aid, or relocate across the country to a campus that offers what they need. (So yes, they technically have options, but not good ones.) The university is now starting to offer new (and genuinely improved) degree programs, but unless they can replenish our resources, students in those programs will fare no better.

Indeed, greed and questionable ethics dominate the corporate strategy. The noble thing to do at this point would be to use whatever resources we have left to formulate an exit strategy. Lay off the admissions department, halt the new ill-advised local marketing campaigns (huge money savings there), teach out the students we currently have, and then bow out gracefully, with dignity. But as long as there are still pennies to squeeze out of students, that's probably not going to happen.

I could easily go on with a plethora of factors I did not yet mention, but that's enough ranting. Suffice it to say, I am no longer proud to be a part of what this organization has become, and soon enough I shall wash my hands of it.

As a DeVry grad I was proud to say that I also worked at DeVry....Until I was blind sided one day when I was informed that my position along 350 others nation wide were eliminated. Here is your severance, sign this form saying you won't talk sh-- about DeVry for the next 5 years, and there is door. Unemployment only lasts for 6 months and the severance was meager. During my employment search, prospective employers frowned upon DeVry and so it took a year and a half to find another job. Daniel Hamburger is exactly what is wrong with our country. He fired employees by the hundreds rather than take a pay cut himself and then was awarded a $2 million bonus for cutting costs and showing a profit that quarter. He invests our US dollars in schools in other countries. He cut the staff down to next to nothing, and the best of the faculty got pay cuts with more class hours, or they left entirely. Sad to say but DeVry is a balloon. It is pretty to look at, but there is nothing left inside. Oh yeah, also my student loans went into default while I was unemployed, thanks Daniel, you f---ing a--hole.

So true @HnckrFp-dfh - I think that somehow we lost our way, we were pushed in this direction as all other schools started a mad race for more enrollment and profits. Somehow we forgot about students. It's sad to see what's happening today, I retired in 2013 and I was glad I got out as all that stress was getting to me.

God bless.

We have 4 family members that are DeVry graduates from the 1990s. All have wonderful jobs and good salaries. However, when it came time for a next generation to attend college, DeVry was quickly eliminated. DeVry met the need of the student who didn't want to spend two years in basic gen ed classes, that wanted hands on training, a schedule that allowed a student to work and go to school, and had a great reputation with companies that hire technical degrees. DeVry spent a good deal of time and money on finding out what the employer wanted and making sure their classes and instructors met that need. Once a great school of learning, the corporation it is now so diversified in trying to capture more types of careers DeVry was left behind in a sea of schools. More money brought in by other schools led to less attention to technology and the DeVry standards. Sad but it looks like the end of DeVry's reputation as a great technological school and now just another "for profit" run business.

I agree with that as well.

Thanks for sharing this. Well written and smart. Agree 1000% on the stigma issue