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On the same two days that Education Management Corp. began laying off more than 800 employees — many at Art Institutes across the country — it posted more than 300 job openings at Art Institutes across the country. And as EDMC’s battered workforce takes another hit, some supporters are suggesting it may be time to go public with their criticisms of the company.
Sources inside the company began notifying City Paper on Wednesday about the layoffs at Art Institutes in Pittsburgh and across the country including Washington D.C., Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale and California and the Illinois Institute of Art in Chicago. However, sources say the cuts happened at virtually every AI across the country.
Company officials did not return requests for comment Wednesday, but WPXI reported this morning that 60 employees — 20 at the Art Institute and 40 at EDMC’s corporate headquarters — were laid off, according to public officials. About 15 of those employees will be eligible to reapply for other positions.
And there are lots of options to choose from: EDMC’s corporate site currently lists more than 300 jobs available, mostly at Art Institutes.
A source inside EDMC told CP that layoffs nationwide would total about 800. This comes just a month after EDMC told all employees that wages would be frozen to avoid future layoffs. The company has sacked hundreds of employees since January as it contends with sagging enrollment and a rapidly falling stock price ($3.54 as of this writing).
City Paper obtained an email sent to AI campuses, similar to one sent around in March. The email describes the layoffs as a “reduction program … to maintain close alignment with staffing in our schools and market demand.”
“The Reduction Program is being driven in part by the demand for certain programs at our schools and we are realigning staff and faculty to meet those demands,” the email states. “The Art Institutes is ensuring schools conform to a structure that is based on the size of our schools, and directing our resources as effectively and efficiently as possible throughout the organization.”
According to the email, the reductions occurred in academic affairs, accounting/finance, admissions and IT. Those departments, according to the email, “have employees who were advised they will no longer have roles with us after September 25, 2012.”
Despite the layoffs though, the email contends that “we remain a vibrant organization. It is important that we continue to strive to be as healthy, efficient and streamlined as possible so that we can continue to invest in and support growth where we see the greatest need and demand.”
The “academic service” positions eliminated, according to several sources, range from department directors to instructors to support staff like library workers. Some of the current job openings listed on EDMC’s website include department directors and program coordinators in several disciplines from math to design. Other available positions range from storeroom clerk and residence life director to librarian and finance director.
The listings cover several schools in areas including Houston, Seattle, Virginia Beach, San Francisco, Tampa and Minneapolis. For many schools this is not the first round of layoffs this year. CP previously reported layoffs in D.C. and in Fort Lauderdale. The Fort Lauderdale campus was reportedly hit with more than 40 layoffs this time after 15 in March.
And like last time, supporters of the school started a petition to show their displeasure with the company’s decision. They once again that the for-profit educator is a public company whose primary owners are large venture capital firms with Goldman Sachs chief among them.
This time, however, the online petition may just be the beginning.
“We are revitalizing this campaign to spread awareness. Except this time we are going to have non-violent protests, put out fliers and let the knowledge spread further than just the internet and word-of-mouth,” wrote the petition’s founder and Fort Lauderdale-area artist and AI student Vaughn Reynolds. “Today 21 instructors and a total of 45 employees were given the layoff notice at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale campus! They fired all but one Department Chair and some Senior Faculty members!”
This article appears in Aug 22-28, 2012.
I go to AI in Fort Lauderdale, and when I heard the news about another round of layoffs I was devastated. There are no teachers left to teach me next quarter. Almost all the amazing Professors were let go elsewhere, and they are being snapped by other Educational Institutions as we speak.
That leaves AI with nothing. Many students are considering to drop out or transfer at this time…
I am an AiFL alumni, and was positively heartbroken to see so many great professors being let go. It’s really a crime and a shame. These people have inspired us all to strive to become better artists and professionals in our industries. The teachers are what make the school, and we all wish you would realize that, EDMC.
I also go to The Art Institute, and the recent lay offs have really crippled the illustration department and the future of my education there. There were some great instructors that got laid off who showed such great skill in their craft and passion for their students to succeed. It’s heartbreaking to lose such quality instructors and that sentiment can be felt in the halls of the school right now.
Obviously These people that are making this “change” Don’t have a single strand of a clue of what goes on in the art institute.
“The Art Institutes is ensuring schools conform to a structure that is based on the size of our schools, and directing our resources as effectively and efficiently as possible throughout the organization.”
^
Really?!? I mean, c’mon? Is that what they are calling it nowadays?
wow.
As the others above have said, I am an AI student. I will be graduating soon, and I’ve spent years with the teachers who have just been let go. Many of whom have been there for more than twenty years. It was heartbreaking yesterday to hear that so many of the teachers who have lasted so long at this school and have been such an inspiration to all of us have been let go. We need to do something to let the company know that this can’t continue to happen. They know NOTHING about the schools they’re trying to ‘restructure’ for the gain of their own pockets.
I have seen my friends saying they’re going to quit or transfer, but I’m just going to make sure that no one I ever meet goes to this school if incidences such as this are not going to be stopped.
I used to teach at AI. Now I am glad I didn’t take their full-time offer. Loved the job but the way they ran the place was ridiculous. They treat their academic directors like dogs and pay their part-timers chump change. The place had so much potential but EDMC just sucks the life out of the local schools. I don’t believe publicly held schools work – too much obligation to the stock holders. Keep private schools private.
I feel bad for those instructors.
Ultimately it seems the only ones who win with For-profit colleges are the EXECUTIVES.
Vulnerable consumers are the sponge for the federal money. Admissions and Financial Aid are the disposable hands to squeeze the Federal money out of those vulnerable consumers at all costs. The instructors are just bait to lure/keep in those vulnerable consumers long enough for the financial aid to extract that Federal money.
Not even the investors win with these fraudsters. Why is EDMC still in business? Well paid Lobbyists that are buying up Congress. Thats all.
Todd Nelson and Jock Mckernan turned EDMC & Ai into nothing more than an elaborate scam to funnel government money out of the poor & veterans and leave them with the bill.
I HOPE their new Ed West will be smart enough to return the funds with interest from all of those students they’ve ripped off, but I doubt it. He’s already letting Todd Nelson, his cronies, and Jock Mckernan take their ill-gotten money and run.
No quality education, really high tuition! What happened to educating the future of all of our creative careers? This is starting to become a very big pile of an excuse of a school.
Used to work at EDMC and got out of there thank god. Awful place to
Work. Can’t wait til they get what they deserve !
If these guys are serious about protesting, and they should, then there are powerful forces that would likely be allied with and support them. These are valuable jobs that are being lost due to the malfeasance of Nelson, West, and McKernan. The company has failed students in so many ways it is hard to begin. However it has targeted poor, unqualified, people of color, early immigrants, and veterans. The NAACP, Urban League, Rainbow Coalition, LULAC, La Raza, various veterans organizations, and the various anti poverty coalitions should be alerted. The present suit by the Department of Justice is just the tip of the iceberg. The sums that have been conned out of these vulnerable people is nearly one hundred billion dollars. Not only could restitution for the unemployed be collected but enormous refunds to these various groups could also be used to redirect the company toward delivering minimally decent education and a reasonable price. You know all those things that they were going to do before Todd Nelson and Goldman Sachs arrived? These are taxpayer dollars, they stole it from all tax paying Americans, and it should be collected and used for its original purpose not just lining Nelson, McHernan, Snowe, West, and Goldmans’ pockets.
They started a couple of months ago. Quietly laying off instructors right around finals time. So that we would be to busy with finals to realize.
So they fire people, then they post the position at a lower wage. Let’s see if I were a criminal I would keep and reward the people who know where the bodies are buried. Then hire young and dumb ones to be trained essentially in things that would dodge the accusations.
That is the same strategy that all of those computer learning companies would do the last time we had to purge the economy of these parasites. Why is it that these assholes have to keep taking things. What the hell is so hard about creating a little wealth every now an again?
C’mon, how do you expect them to pay for the new carpets, desks, magnetic walls, trolly trips around the city for prospective students, and gigantic TV’s that replay FuseTV all day on every floor between the elevators, WITHOUT letting people go?!
EDMC is focused on short term fiscal goals rather than long term student worth, and the blatant ignorance by the admissions reps that lead these kids around lying to them about the facility is appalling. At Pittsburgh we lost a huge majority of great teachers that understood their field and could portray it in an educational manner to a group of people. Now they have these 28 -35 y/o, fresh Master’s graduates, who don’t know what they’re dealing with when they enter the Art Institutes because they believe it will be a traditional college, then find out, since EDMC admits any student to their university whether they can afford college or not, and whether they really care or not, leading the classes to be filled with kids that really shouldn’t be in that school in the first place. More than half the students don’t care; genuinely don’t give a shit about their education. That makes the students who do care look bad because the sea of Art Institute students that employers swim in is over-inundated with talentless, uncaring people.
This also brings the teachers down. When you have a class with 3 students that are on par or above the class requirements and can do the homework as necessary, but 15 other students don’t care and goof off, come in late and leave early, and create literal CRAP for work, it’s hard for the professor to teach adequately.
I graduate from AIP in 2 weeks, and I’m so glad to be getting out, but I keep seeing these kids coming through with reps and their parents and they are being told lies; lies they are content with because it’s what they WANT to hear, not what they NEED to hear.
I go to AI Los Angeles in Santa Monica, and they just layed off almost ALL the Animation staff, including our Department Chair. I only have two more sessions before graduation, and it that wasn’t the case, I would transfer out. This school is becoming ridiculous. If you support us students against the layoffs, please sign the petition
https://www.change.org/petitions/edmc-gold…
WTF!!!!!! Jacked Up Muller told WPXI that these cuts were to reduce tuition. Check it out. If each student took one course the revenues would be $5.9 Billion. 60 jobs, just for fun @ $100k each. I keep getting 0.001%. Hell the tuition should be damn near bargain basement pricing. What a crock…..
Here’s some coverage of the issue from the Denver Post today. Same info we had from yesterday, but gives number specific to their school.
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_…
I’m about to graduate from AI Atlanta and am glad I found this article. I too lost some teachers very dear to me and also a portfolio advisor – someone whom I depend on to graduate. Our campus is in the process of laying off 62 employees. Along with that is included tech support that keeps the place running. They’re tech budget is so miniscule that these guys have to pull rabbits out of hats to just keep things running. There is no way it can survive without them. And there is no way the students will prosper without decent teachers, tools, and equipment. For the tuition I’ve paid to this school, I could start my own production business with better equipment than they have now. It’s utter nonsense saying that this will improve the student life. It’s going to make it 100 times worse and drive the school into the ground, all because some dbag banker can make their ridiculous salary (ahem scam?).
I want to urge everyone to write their congressmen or congresswomen about this issue, as it’s completely unfair to charge such exorbitant tuition and not provide an equal level of education in return; and one that may have little to no value in the very near future.
I think it’s time they reopened that class action suit and give a complete refund to all students adversely affected by this business’s failure to adequately provide a high-cost service.
Ed West is just as bad, if not worse, than all the rest. He tried to talk about students as “raving fans”, but they are just a commodity to him. Look what he did to Delta Airlines – I’ve heard he can’t even ride on their planes anymore because the employees hate him so much.
How does that Jacki Muller lady sleep at night? Just wondering. I mean, all PR departments have crisis from time to time, but EDMC is destroying dreams. She goes to work everyday to protect a company that is destroying dreams. Man, that must be tough. I couldn’t do it.
AI in Nashville is in the exact same boat. Just confirmed yesterday. If they think they’re gonna screw us over like this then they’re wrong. We need to protest. because this is a load of horses@*t!!!!!!
This is just the beginning once edmc loses that case against every school run by them is history that includes all 40 art institutes I suggest you transfer quick and hope your credits are accepted elsewhere I was lucky mine transferred
I would run if I were any student with AII, this is scary and a sign that the school is more than for profit, it is FOR PROFIT!
You will not get the good professors, because they are going to go to a community college before they go to EDMC.
I taught there at one time and I would never put in on my CV
I can confirm that Philadelphia was affected as well. All of the library and tutoring center staff positions were terminated, as well as program directors, IT staff and general education personnel. I’m not even sure how the school can operate with the people they have left…
anyone have any info regarding a lawsuit against these scammers i go to school there now , have been working in the industry for a long time and have been questioning the school since the beginning its sending kids out to the workforce with absolutely no skills. The kids in the culinary program will not make it in the real world i feel sorry for them. I hope i can transfer to cia in ny art institute will be a joke to have on your resume after this scam.
I graduated from an accredited AI with my Bachelor in Fine Arts in Fashion Marketing. I do have to say it was over priced, but I would say my professors were much better and more attentive than the ones I had at the state university I went to. My teachers were still active in my field of study, and helped me find my first job outside of school.
We students knew it was a for-profit school, but our AI was a higher caliber, the 3 closest AI’s to us weren’t accredited, so we had a lot of transfers to our school. The for-profit part was annoying, but they do offer smaller classrooms, professors in your field, and state of the art programming and equipment.
I don’t support what they’re doing right now, but it is part of running a business, and people are just more heated because people pay tuition to the company. Education is their product, so it is more sensitive than other companies. I just felt that there should at least be some positive input from a graduate.
PEOPLES’ DREAMS AND EDUCATION ARE NEVER “JUST BUSINESS”
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, EVER!!!!
Fellow readers are asking for law firms that are suing EDMC:
http://www.litman-law.com
http://www.milberginvestigations.com
http://www.juliejohnsonlaw.com
http://www.cbmclaw.com
http://www.shumanlawfirm.com
http://www.educationfraudattorney.com
http://www.gth-law.com (whistleblowers especially welcome)
http://www.educationfraudlawsuit.com
http://www.bafirm.com
http://www.englishpllc.com
The list and number of cases is almost endless but this should get you going. Tell it like it is, numbers, facts, and be concise. These guys are getting lots of calls and obviously are looking for the best cases.
Join the Protest!! Your Congress is already on the take, now it’s time to Litigate!!!!
I currently work at one of the Art Institutes and will be putting in my notice soon. We have not been informed of what faculty/staff will be affected by the layoff and our campus President and Admissions Director have both stated on numerous occasions that “it doesn’t matter”. Not only that, but the admissions team was recently told that they need to become more “aggressive” with prospective students. If a potential student says that they can’t afford the application fee the admissions staff needs to ask them what they have available to pawn OR to make them write out a list of people that they can call right away to borrow money from.
It’s so sad, these students are NOT getting the education that Ai was previously known for:
-We have numerous students who started class in July that are living off of food boxes because they cannot afford to eat after they pay their monthly payment plan to school. They were told that Career Services would help them find work and that’s just not happening.
-Students are upset about the layoffs but leadership won’t address the student issues.
-Numerous students are harassed into starting classes because people call them NUMEROUS times and basically threaten them to start school by saying that they will never reach their goals ANY other way.
This company is exceedingly immoral and it’s disgusting what they are doing to students just so that the leadership can keep making money!!!!!
Don’t forget culinary when it comes to layoffs! EDMC canned all of the Ai Purchasing managers, Storeroom managers and Storeroom supervisors and is now “allowing” them to reapply for the same job with the title of culinary clerk at a greatly reduced salary. Of course the expectation will be that they do the same load of work for less. Corporate has been fed a load of crap if they believe that the positions are so insignificant that the hiring requirements are a high school diploma and 2 years experience. I hope that they all find better jobs and leave Ai to suffer. Unfortunately, the students will also take it in the you know where!
I was recently laid off from EDMC and at first was very upset, but in prespective, I am actually lucky to not be a part of an organization under such scrutiny. I have been an employee for numerous years and was very proud to be a part of an organization who, under the leadership of Bob Knutson, really cared for their students. They hired Todd Nelson from Apollo, knowing that he was forced to resign because all he cared about was Wall Street. He was about making money and not the welfare of the students. It is inevitable that EDMC is not going to be in existense for long. The daily fear of losing my job is over and I feel sorry for those that are left having to endure that fear every day.
Hey There Just Saying!
If you EDMC folks have never heard your executives lie, lie, lie up close and personal check it out–
“PITTSBURGH, Sept. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Education Management Corporation (NASDAQ: EDMC), a leading provider of post-secondary education, announced today that Todd S. Nelson, Chairman, Edward H. West, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Randall J. Killeen, Acting Chief Financial Officer, are scheduled to participate in the BMO Capital Markets 12th Annual Back to School Education Conference in New York, NY on Thursday, September 13, 2012 at 11:15 a.m. Eastern Time.
Interested parties can access a live webcast of the presentation on the Investor Relations section of the Education Management website (http://www.edmc.edu). An archive of the webcast and a copy of the presentation will also be available on the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website (http://www.edmc.edu).”
Employees caught rolling and laughing in the isles will be, oh my!, laid off–your lucky day!!!!
I worked for EDMC for 3 years. Rose through the ranks and was making 75k. I realized how shady the admissions dept really is. They HAVE TO MAKE PLAN. Which means each semester they have a quota of students that must be enrolled. NO MATTER WHAT. They dont care about the education, the faculty, nothing. The almighty dollar is all thats important. Admissions personel were paid by how many students they enrolled..it was called the Matrix. I left and went to medical school…I used EDMC they way they use students to get a real career.
Think about it,, Any school that calls you 5 times a day doesnt care what your grades are..they care about your Title IV funding. Please read carefully..THE SCHOOL IS NOT REAL…I SAY AGAIN,,THE SCHOOL IS NOT REAL..they took one of the most prestigeous schools in Pittsburgh and rolled it out online and trashed it by taking students who were incapable of passing. Some students had learing disabilities, psych issues..insane. PLEASE DO NOT GO TO ANY EDMC SCHOOLS..FOR PROFIT IS JUST THAT…FOR PROFIT!!
Newdoc!
Thanks for coming forward, you may want to pay off those medical school loans this way:
Whistleblower Suit Against EDMC Should Proceed, Judge Says
By Richard Vanderford
Law360, New York (October 22, 2012, 8:28 PM ET) — A federal judge on Monday said a whistleblower lawsuit accusing for-profit university giant Education Management Corp. of defrauding the federal government by pushing students into pricey government loans should go forward, though she recommended it be pared down.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Cynthia Reed Eddy said that several allegations made by Jason Sobek, a former EDMC associate admissions officer, are strong enough to go forward, including claims that the Pittsburgh, Pa.-based education company lied to students about its programs’ accreditations and their job prospects.
There are some 65 of these suits out there and they slowly are proceeding.
Tick Tock Tick Tock
This is what comes from treating education as a commodity. I taught mathematics at South University (another EDMC subsidiary) and it did not take long to realize that South University was not just “for profit” but for “maximizing profit”. A lot of lip service was paid to to student service, but in the end, if it cost South University anything it would never fly. Thak god I am out of that awful environment.
Students, many staff and many faculty have been thrown under the bus by EDMC. I am aware first hand of the underminded fraud of this company. I really hope that EDMC is shut completely down so I can have faith again in that the right thing was done.
Everyone can sue EDMC EXCEPT the students that were pissed on by the company?
Anyone else think that’s BS?
If suicide climbs due to debt based on EDMC school recruiter lies, they are to blame.
If protests begin to happen more frequent, they deserve it.
Is the American Dream to work hard and be successful, or deceive others and profit?
YOU LIKE EDMC LAWSUITS, YOU WILL LOVE THIS ONE
For-Profit Admissions Officers File EEOC Complaints
http://diverseeducation.com/article/51355/
NOW THE ARE BEING INVESTIGATED BY THE SEC TICK TOCK TICK TOCK
WHAT ELSE YOU YOU EXPECT FROM TODD NELSON AND JOHN MCKERNAN
I used to work for EDMC for years and I would like to just say once again, ‘ I PREDICTED THIS’ 5 years ago when Nelson took over. I did what I could to try and communicate to the executives how to do it the right way but was just pushed aside. So, I left and so did my Top App status ( achieved the right way I should say by only helping students who truly wanted to attend, not just to make numbers).
While i feel bad for my friends who are caught up in this mess, All I can say is ‘GO GET THEM!’ They could have avoided this before it got to this point but they simply did not want to listen or ‘do the right thing’.
Bye bye EDMC and The Art Institutes. I will continue to remember Bob Knutson and much better, and honest, days.
NOW THEY ARE BEING SUED AND CHARGED WITH CONCEALING EVIDENCE IN THE $12 BILLION DOJ LAWSUIT–THESE ARE A TRUE CLASS ACT
http://www.sbwire.com/press-releases/education-management-corporation-nasdaqedmc-accused-by-employees-of-concealing-evidence-in-billion-dollar-fraud-case-231823.htm
It is true that not everyone gets the education that they expect to magically get. Just because they accept anyone and have few standards that a traditional art school has doesn’t mean the education is a waste. Learning is as much on the student as it is the instructor and often times is enhanced by personal study. Not everyone has talent and in a field that is marked by talent that means that not everyone will magically get the dream jobs. This is a highly competitive field. Just because you were in the 95% to quit or fail the design field doesn’t mean you are worthy to complain about your lack of opportunity.
For those yammering about it being a public for profit school lets face the facts. They are more financially responsible as a business then most State Universities (personal opinion) as you don’t see them wasting money like my old university did with painting grass green in the hieght of summer. Universities have many terrible faculty members and often do not care if you even show up in class. Just becaise the are not “for profit” doesn’t make them better. All schools are in the end a business. At least at the art institute I know my classes all revovled around what I wanted to learn and not some meaningless classes that were forced on me for a standard degree.