LEWISTON — Concerned about “student welfare,” Bates College has decided that it will no longer employ students to serve as nude models for art classes.

“The position is being phased out to remove potential instances of an asymmetrical power dynamic between a nude model or models and clothed supervisor,” according to an email from the education curator at Bates’ art museum cited by The Bates Student newspaper this week.

No single event precipitated the decision to cease hiring students for the modeling posts, according to the email from Anthony Shostack, the curator.

Bates has had six models, including substitutes, but three of them did most of the work, the student newspaper reported.

The college plans to use off-campus models for its weekly life drawing sessions at the art museum, the paper said. Shostack told The Bates Student the program has been run continuously since 1997.

The chair of the arts and visual culture department, Cat Balco, told the student paper that using student models can become iffy.

“I am aware of other students in the class that may have relationships with the models as peers, or just in other ways in our small community,” Balco told The Bates Student, adding that “experiencing students in multiple roles, one where nudity is okay, and one where it is not, is very complex.”

Two former student models told the student newspaper they were not consulted about the change ahead of time.

Bates’ student employment office continues to list the job as one available for students.

It says the life model job “provides the subject of study for weekly figure drawing sessions organized by the Bates College Museum of Art.”

“The Life Model is responsible for striking and holding a variety of poses including, but not necessarily limited to standing, sitting, and reclining, with or without input from participating artists,” the job listing says.

It adds that “all physiques are welcome and poses are nude,” and include poses in a studio setting that range from quick ones emphasizing action to long ones that can extend 90 minutes or more, with breaks.

The listing said those hired could expect to work three or four hours a week.

It isn’t clear how much Bates paid the student models. Listings around the country for nude models for art classes cite a pay range that extends from as little $9.25 an hour to as much as $40 an hour.