My Institution is Failing

Faculty and staff just got news that our college is going under in one week’s time unless we receive a last-minute funding infusion from donors. We have pulled off similar miracles before, but things are looking grim. I knew we were on the financial fence for a long time, but things finally seemed to be looking up this year. Now, barely a few weeks into the fall semester, we are all very likely out of our jobs (and educations) with no time to plan for backup options. It’s too late for most of us or our students to transfer to new schools or look for work elsewhere. This is deeply disappointing and frustrating, and it seems reflective of a bleak moment for academia in general.

I was already on the market this year because of this institutional instability (also because my supervisor is a nightmare), but I was not expecting to scramble to fill my pay gap in the meantime. The academic hiring cycle is so brutal, but even more so if you fall through the temporal cracks like this. I have some connections to local a community college where I hope to pick up work ASAP, but even that will probably have to wait until the spring semester.

Has anyone had an unexpected mid-semester job loss like this? I feel so discouraged and exhausted.