By now you’ve probably read about the “reorganization” at NHTI resulting in the loss of 10 full-time faculty and staff positions. At a time when the college is presumably focusing on attracting and keeping students in school, the decision to cut these jobs seems particularly ill-advised.

Of particular note, for me, is the dismantling of the cross-cultural/ESOL office, which the new president has effectively accomplished by eliminating the full-time director’s position, and leaving only one 25-hour-a-week position to handle all of the labor-intensive work involved with English language learners. One part-time person, no matter how diligent, cannot on her own possibly deliver the kind of services that the office has been known for within the system and across the state. I know this because I worked, until July, in that 25-hour weekly position for nearly five years with the director, Dawn Higgins.

I know firsthand the breadth and depth of Dawn’s expertise and contribution to that office and to NHTI. When Dawn began at NHTI in 2001, she advised 22 students who identified as language learners. Today, at NHTI alone, there are 600 self-identified English language learners, 300 of whom the office regularly offers all manner of support – academic, financial and otherwise – and in the process interacting with all departments in the school. Dawn has worked tirelessly with this often marginalized population, many with needs that go well beyond just academics. Many of these students came to NHTI specifically because of Dawn’s and the office’s reputation for giving expert and personalized advice and support – and having success. After this “reorganization” there is simply no way NHTI will be able to provide in the future the quality and quantity of academic and other support to this set of students that it has provided until now.

I, like so many, have no idea how the president made her decision about “reorganizing” the office. I do know the result was a flawed decision that runs counter to NHTI’s long-term strategic interests. I fear for the future of NHTI’s ESOL and cross-cultural students and predict there will be a decline in the number who attend, and, as importantly, persist in school. I know there is a huge (and appropriate) push to support all students at NHTI in a way that makes it possible for them to continue and not drop out, and thus keep up NHTI enrollment numbers. The decision to eliminate Dawn’s position, effectively eviscerating the cross-cultural/ESOL office, will, sadly and ironically, have the opposite effect.

I hope it is not too late to fix this mistake.

(Margaret Landsman lives in Concord.)