President Gaylen Byker recently sent an e-mail to employees discussing the reductions, saying the college could not get by if it just continued to freeze salaries and cut nonpersonnel areas.

GRAND RAPIDS — Calvin College leaders, anticipating declining enrollment and rising expenses, say they will eliminate the equivalent of 20 full-time jobs by the middle of next year.

President Gaylen Byker recently sent an e-mail to employees discussing the reductions, saying the college could not get by if it just continued to freeze salaries and cut nonpersonnel areas.

Next year’s enrollment is projected to be 3,902 students, down from 3,991 this year. Calvin’s enrollment topped out at 4,224 in 2007.

“We knew we could not continue to balance the budget by freezing the salaries of our employees, a significant number of whom have had no pay increases for two years,” Byker wrote. “We knew we needed to get back to the point of having sufficient funds to run the institution well.

“In light of our enrollment numbers,” Byker added, “that meant cutting expenses.”

Byker wrote that not replacing retiring employees will account for the majority of the reductions but said some employees will be laid off by June 30.

Those workers have been identified and notified so they can begin seeking new posts, said Matt Kucinski, Calvin’s spokesman.

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