Essex County College To Lay Off 20 Staff Members: Report

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Essex County College is planning to lay off 20 full-time staff members as it struggles with a drop in student enrollment totals and questions about its accreditation status, a report says.

The college – which maintains campuses in Newark, West Caldwell and Cedar Grove – will lay off 20 full-time staff members and eliminate 14 vacant positions, a move expected to save $2.76 million, administrators told NJ.com.

Joyce Wilson Harley, a vice president of administration and finance, was among those included in the layoffs. She alleged that her termination was “pure retaliation” for her prior statements against ECC President Anthony Munroe and the school’s hiring policies, NJ.com reported.

Munroe declined to comment to a reporter about Harley’s most recent allegations of “retaliation.” (Read the full article here)

The college is currently on probation with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which cited “insufficient evidence” of the school’s compliance with Standard 3 (Institutional Resources) and Standard 4 (Leadership and Governance).

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