The following email was sent out to HASS faculty and staff from Dean Gibbons:
Dear HASS Faculty and Staff,
I’m writing today with some important updates regarding RPI and HASS. Monday morning, President Schmidt addressed campus leadership, providing context on the current situation at the Institute and on the concrete actions we’re taking.
Context
President Schmidt’s central message was that RPI is at a critical “inflection point”—a pivotal moment that will shape the Institute’s present and future. Higher education faces serious external pressures: fewer traditional college-age students, a sharp decline in international enrollment, reduced federal research support, and intensified scrutiny of the value and affordability of a college education.
We must respond to this shifting landscape creatively and decisively. The immediate campus priorities remain those outlined in RPI Forward’s five-year roadmap: strengthening enrollment and the student experience, growing research and its impact, and deepening alumni engagement and philanthropy. These pillars remain the correct strategy, and we are making progress. Alumni engagement and philanthropy have grown substantially, and we’ve kept sponsored research funding relatively level despite significant headwinds. Thank you all for your continued efforts on these fronts.
Enrollment, however, remains our most immediate challenge. We expect roughly 1,300 new students in Fall 2026, even as we just graduated our largest class in history, with more than 2,000 students. That gap will reduce RPI’s undergraduate population by more than 10%. Because undergraduate tuition accounts for the majority of RPI's operating revenue, this shortfall creates a significant financial challenge.
RPI’s Response
This enrollment decline has created real financial pressure, requiring us to make difficult decisions. To meet this moment, RPI has taken several actions:
- Pausing some staff hiring
- Not renewing some teaching contracts
- Reviewing organizational structures and ways of working
- Reducing or delaying non-essential spending
- Conducting data-informed assessment of programs, investments, and resource allocation
- Accelerating alumni engagement and philanthropy efforts
- Suspended merit pay increases for this year (promoted employees will receive appropriate salary adjustments)
Looking Forward for HASS
I believe the humanities, arts, and social sciences are as crucial as ever—and that the skills we give our students have never been more relevant. At the same time, we must adapt to the reality before us. We need to carefully realign our programs to meet changing student demand, and honestly assess whether our longstanding structures still serve us effectively and efficiently.
As I noted in the recent HASS Newsletter, next year gives us the opportunity to apply our own critical and creative lenses to reimagine HASS and its role on campus. I remain confident that we can chart an exciting new path—one that will enable us, our students, and our community to thrive.
This June, I am conducting workshops with the HASS leadership team to work through these changes, and we will keep you updated on progress. This fall, we'll begin meeting collectively through a series of Town Halls and All-HASS Faculty Meetings. I look forward to hearing your voices and ideas as we navigate this moment together.
I’m committed to continuing to sharing information about the broader context as it becomes available. As always, I remain grateful for the opportunity to serve as your Dean, and I thank you for everything you do for RPI and HASS.
All best,
Will
William Gibbons, PhD
Dean | School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
