STEVENS POINT, WI (WSAU) — The latest round in the negotiations over course offerings at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point calls for six majors to be discontinued, and the release of roughly 6-10 faculty.
Provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs Greg Summers says the cuts would impact six majors including French, German, Geoscience, Geography, History, and both two and three-D art. “Those are all programs that have relatively low enrollment and have 3-and-400 level junior and senior classes that have pretty small enrollment,” he says. “Financially. they just don’t make sense as we look to streamline both our spending and our curriculum.
Summers adds while the spotlight has been on this conversation since the initial plan to cut up to a dozen majors and programs was announced in March, the conversations internally have been circulating for years.
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It’s the latest round in the ongoing wrestling match with the school’s budget, which has taken a hit as enrollment has taken a sharp downturn in the last decade. Reports this summer indicated that the school’s financial reserves have shrunk from a high of around $15 million in 2012 to around two million dollars today.
The university was able to save programs because of faculty retirements and resignations resulting from deficits and decreasing enrollment, said Summers, and because of the willingness of current faculty members to envision how their programs would fit into the new curricular alignment.
Part of Monday’s on-campus announcement also included plans for a center for critical thinking, which will extend to local high schools, employers, nonprofits and other community partners. Summers said it’s designed to make sure students have an opportunity to practice the skill and make sure they do. “That center is going to play a role in making that skill the very central thing that we teach here at UWSP and we are going to do it better than anyone.”
Supporters of the school and students alike expressed concern about losing valuable critical thinking courses as part of the first proposed round of cuts. Summers adds that the groundwork for the center has been laid long before the announcement last March.
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Another aspect of the proposed cuts is making sure that the school is preparing students for the careers that businesses and companies in Central Wisconsin need while making sure cost-conscious students get the most for their money. “To succeed in your career you need both technical know-how that you get from a given major, but you also need a deep and meaningful liberal arts education that’s integrated with those professional pathways.”
“I think the idea of integrating the liberal arts into our professional programs in ways that align with the career-focused needs of the region is going to be very exciting for people,” he added.
Campus conversations on the plan will be held through the winter, with a final recommendation going to the Chancellor for approval before the Board of Regents has their say on it in the spring. Summers says if the cuts are approved, all students currently enrolled in those programs will be given the opportunity to finish their degree before the classes are discontinued.
