By Jenny Rose
Arizona Summer Wildcat
Monday August 19, 2002
Five degree programs may be cut from UA's course offerings and three others merged with different departments over the next four years, Provost George Davis said Friday at the Arizona Board of Regents meeting.
If the regents ratify Davis' proposal at their next meeting, the casualties will be the bachelor of sciences in Atmospheric Sciences, the doctorate in Educational Leadership, master of sciences in Exercise and Sports Science, the master of sciences and doctor of philosophy in Range Management, and the master of sciences in Water Resources Administration.
The bachelor of sciences in Soil and Water Science would be merged with the bachelor of sciences in Environmental Science degree. The master of sciences and doctor of philosophy in Nuclear Engineering program would also be merged with the master of sciences and doctor of philosophy in mechanical engineering.
Students currently enrolled in the programs will be allowed to graduate, but the degrees will not be offered to future students.
Davis said the elimination of these degrees should not affect many students, since the programs to be cut have such low graduation rates.
Programs are subject to elimination if they do not produce enough graduates over a three-year period.
The regents have yet to approve the degree cuts. The final approval will come at their September meeting.
The regents determine which degrees should be cut by analyzing graduation rates in the universities' academic programs. Programs whose degree rates fall below the threshold are subject to elimination.
Programs with low graduation rates can escape being cut if they qualify for at least one of several exemptions.
Programs can be exempt if they are new and haven't had the time to generate sufficient enrollment, or if they are so basic that they are offered by a majority of the university's peer institutions.
Degrees that share a majority of the coursework with other programs are exempt, because eliminating them would not also eliminate costly classes and instruction; the courses would remain in the university system to fulfill the second degree with a high graduation rate.
Master's programs that have a doctorate with graduation rates above the threshold are also exempt for the same reason - cutting the master's program would not have a significant effect on the university budget because most of the classes would have to be retained for the doctorate program.
Programs that combine degree types, such as a bachelor of sciences and bachelor of arts in the same major, are also exempt for similar reasons.
At Friday's meeting, the regents were concerned that the current methodology allows too many programs to escape the university guillotine.
Michael Crow, ASU's new president, said the current system doesn't take into account the quality of the degree program, allowing sub-par programs to remain in the university system if their graduation rates are high enough.
Crow said he would like to see a degree review process that allows university officials to eliminate programs with high graduation rates if their quality is poor.
Regent Chris Palacios said Crow's comments spurred the board of regents to consider the methodology of the academic review at its next meeting in September.
"The process has eliminated a lot of programs in the past," Davis said.
However, he also noted that the review process needs a greater justification for keeping low-producing degree programs in the university system.
The regents will debate a new methodology for academic review at their next meeting on September 26 and 27.
By Jenny Rose
Arizona Summer Wildcat
Sunday August 18, 2002
The Arizona Board of Regents approved Friday a $170 million plan to expand the Arizona Health Sciences Center.
The plan calls for an expansion of existing infrastructure, as well as the construction of a $60 million Medical Research Building, which will be the first building constructed in a massive medical plaza. That plaza will consume virtually all property south of UMC to Speedway, between Campbell Avenue and Cherry Avenue.
The building will house scientists who will develop treatments to many diseases, said Dr. Ray Woosley, vice president for health sciences.
Woosley said six studies have already been scheduled to be housed in the building, ranging from studies on aging to diabetes and skin cancer.
Those studies will bring in a projected $100 million to UA, Woosley said.
Whether these projects come to UA is dependent on whether the facility is even built, a fate that still depends on the ever-unstable university budget.
The building's cost will be absorbed by $30 million in system revenue bonds, and another $30 million in gifts, said Joel Valdez, senior vice president for business affairs.
He also said the new structure should pay for itself by bringing in grants and outside research.
"That money is coming in, but we're bound and determined not to start until the money is in the bank," Valdez said.
President Peter Likins also said the project would not proceed with a lack of necessary funds, but emphasized the importance of the building by saying that other projects would be put on hold to expedite the construction of the facility.
Although the building is essentially paid for, a significant portion of the $170.3 million cost for the entire plaza must come from state-allocated funds, a fact that has some UA officials worried.
"We have to cross our fingers that the state comes through with some money," Valdez said.
Likins said he is also concerned that Arizona legislators won't give the university the funding it needs to make the medical plaza a reality.
"If the state doesn't have the wisdom to do that, we'll find some way to do that," he said.
