“While this decision was not taken lightly, it is necessary to ensure the long-term success and sustainability of the university,” WSU Provost Amy Thompson said in a letter to the entire Wright State community.
A university spokesman said there are only 54 Wright State students in the process of seeking those 34 specific degrees. The university has about 11,000 total students.
Thompson said the students in the affected programs will receive individualized plans in the next week, ensuring they can complete their intended degrees before the programs are shuttered. New admissions to those 34 programs are being suspended immediately.
Last year, the Board of Trustees told Wright State’s provost to review the university’s academic programs, and this week’s announcement was the completion of Phase 1 of that review. University officials said that 198 academic programs were evaluated. Of those, 22 had already been designated for deactivation. Another 12 programs were identified for deactivation as a part of this process.
Trustees will vote on cutting the programs in April, but the trustees have authorized Thompson to begin the process of preparing the cuts.
Thompson stressed that the university routinely goes through this kind of process. Miami University announced it was cutting 18 degree programs last fall and the University of Toledo announced it would cut 48 degree programs earlier this week.
“Wright State is committed to providing a high-quality education and supporting its students in their academic journeys,” Thompson said. “By reducing programs with low or zero enrollment, the Academic Efficiency and Effectiveness Review process allows Wright State to improve, maintain and expand programs that are in demand and have an increased relevance to today’s job market.”
A sampling of the 34 degree programs being deactivated includes: bachelor’s degrees in Latin, Greek, German and art history; master’s degrees in physics, applied math and applied statistics; master’s degrees in classroom teaching, principalship and rehabilitation counseling; associate degrees at WSU’s Lake Campus in chemistry, history, sociology and communication.
Others were of a more niche variety — bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering with specific pre-law or pre-med designations; master’s degrees in “selected graduate studies.” The full list is available on Wright State’s website.
Thompson noted that the university’s review included looking at in-demand jobs and how the university would be able to fill them. The university will still be offering nursing degrees, math degrees and engineering, for example, but some specific concentrations that were identified on the list will not be offered.
“All of these programs have other alternatives for students to pursue,” Thompson said.
University officials said this process was solely a review of programs, and affects on employees have not been assessed. Some faculty who teach courses in the deactivated degree programs also teach courses in other adjacent fields. It was unclear Thursday night whether any of the academic offerings would be eliminated, as opposed to some classes still being offered but without the specific degree track available.
Faculty were involved in the decision making, including the Faculty Senate president.
“The Senate remains committed to prioritizing student retention and success and to enhance the core educational mission that motivates us,” said Subhashini Ganapathy, Chair, Department of Biomedical, Industrial and Human Factors Engineering.
It also was unclear if or when the moves would lead to staffing reductions. Thompson said the review only looked academic offerings and not staffing. She said she was unable to speculate about any affect this announcement could have on staff.
“Dozens of faculty, staff, and administrators participated in this prioritization process and provided hundreds of comments and suggestions,” Thompson wrote in her letter to the university. “I want to thank the members of the Academic Efficiency and Effectiveness Review Committee and everyone who provided feedback in this campuswide process.”
Bobby Rubin, an English lecturer and president of the Wright State faculty union, said the union felt underrepresented in the makeup of the people who were making these decisions, and said the union had a few concerns following the announcement.
One, he said the union believes as a public university, Wright State should be offering majors that students might be interested in, and worried about the university following trends that might change quickly.
He said union members were also worried about the impact these cuts would have on faculty who teach in those programs.
“I think that we should do everything we can to retain those faculty,” he said. “The union believes that we’ve had more than enough faculty cuts and that cutting too much can be very, very detrimental to our students.”
