Green River College fires president after $14 million deficit forces widespread cuts

Green River College has ousted President Suzanne Johnson after a massive budget shortfall forced college-wide cuts this school year.

The Green River Board of Trustees announced Feb. 2 that it had voted to terminate Johnson’s contract effective the following day. The announcement came as the faculty union prepared to hold a no-confidence vote in the president, a symbolic call for a change in leadership.

Although the pandemic created financial challenges for most community colleges, it took years for President Johnson to address Green River’s fiscal issues, said Dave Norberg, faculty union president.

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Instead, he said, hiring and other expenditures continued until the projected deficit peaked at $14.2 million last year. At that point, Johnson called for 5% cuts in every division of the college in the 2025-26 budget and instituted a hiring freeze.

“Growing the college and expanding the budget, despite the fact that we had a budget deficit that went unspoken and unacknowledged, to me is just incomprehensible and indefensible,” Norberg said.

“We should have been having hard conversations three, four years ago about sustainability, and managing our budget," Norberg sad. "Instead it was just radio silence."

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Green River now has a balanced budget, said Philip Denman, college spokesperson. But the college-wide cuts cost instructional positions, and Norberg says some Green River students now struggle to find seats in classes they need to graduate.

The Board of Trustees did not indicate its reasons for terminating Johnson’s contract, but called it “a difficult decision” in a statement. The board credited her with “meaningful” contributions over her nine years as president, and said bachelor’s degrees offerings doubled and enrollment grew.

The board also said that Johnson led the college through the pandemic with “a steady hand while consistently demonstrating compassion, understanding, and care for our campus community.”

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Neither Johnson nor board members were giving media interviews, Denman said.

The board appointed George Frasier, vice president of college advancement, as interim president effective Feb. 4.

Along with concerns of financial mismanagement, the college faculty union objected to four executive appointments that Johnson made last fall without a hiring process. The board promised to conduct a “competitive and transparent national search for Green River’s next president,” and to include students, faculty, staff and community members in the process.