University of Vermont Cutting 23 Programs in College of Arts and Sciences
“will not close the structural deficit in its entirety”
The school was already struggling with enrollment, but the pandemic has made things worse.
The Vermont Digger reports:
UVM to eliminate 23 programs in the College of Arts and Sciences
The University of Vermont announced proposed cuts Wednesday to 12 majors and 11 minors in the College of Arts and Sciences.
University officials say the college has seen a 17% reduction in enrollment in liberal arts classes from 2010 to 2016. Low enrollment is defined as 25 or fewer students or fewer than 5 graduates per year.
The college has faced budget shortfalls over the past few years as a result of declining enrollment.
College of Arts and Sciences Dean Bill Falls told faculty in a letter Wednesday that the pandemic has “amplified” structural deficits. The school faces anticipated shortfalls of $27.9 million over the next three years, according to a fact sheet provided by the dean’s office.
The university plans to eliminate geology, religion and classics departments. Twelve out of 56 majors will go by the boards, including regional studies, romance languages and cultures, Latin, Greek, German, Russian and Italian.
The departments of Art and Art History, Music, and Theatre and Dance will be consolidated into a School of the Arts. The departments of Asian Languages and Literatures, German and Russian, and Romance Languages and Cultures will be folded into a School of Languages.
Four out of 10 master’s degree programs, including classics, geology and historic preservation, and 11 out of 63 minors are on the chopping block. The historic preservation program has averaged five students and five degrees awarded per year, and the cost of the program exceeds revenue, Falls said.
These drastic steps “will not close the structural deficit in its entirety,” Falls wrote, but they are “a critical first step in reaching an initial target of reducing expenditures by $5M by FY2023.”
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Comments
I notice they’re not cutting their Vice President for Diversity nor the Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Virtue-signaling is more important to them than humanities education.
I don’t see any grievance studies majors named in any of the lists. Do they have any, and if so, what will be their disposition?
This is a very smart and constructive move.
This is too bad — all of those programs are real subjects which teach actual skills. Universities are supposed to teach subjects like those!
As other people have complained, why don’t they cut costs by firing various “diversity” positions? Or cutting programs that don’t teach skills, like the “grievance studies” departments?