Your major may be in danger.A list generated by UA colleges shows that 32 low-enrollment degree programs are being considered for elimination or consolidation within their colleges.
Although no decisions have yet been made, the University of Arizona is attempting to streamline its academic programs to meet an expected budgetary shortfall of $7.8 million next year.
Provost Paul Sypherd and UA President Manuel Pacheco announced at the Faculty Senate meeting last week that certain cuts may have to be made in order to meet the budget shortfall head on.
Sypherd said he and the Strategic Planning and Budget Advisory Committee will be examining and discussing programs that graduate less than 10 students a year.
"I'm confident that in the next few months we will eliminate about a dozen low-enrollment programs," Sypherd said in an interview after last week's Strategic Planning and Budget Advisory Committee meeting.
As recommendations are made and discussed, Sypherd said the strategic planning committee will try to keep certain standards in place while trying to determine how to reduce spending within academic programs.
For one, he said, the UA will consider the value of programs to undergraduate education.
For instance, Sypherd said although one chemistry degree program is recommended for elimination, the Department of Chemistry would not be affected by cuts because it serves more non-major students than majors. Courses in chemistry can fulfill general educ ation requirements and would still be offered, he said.
A 'perfectly reasonable' process
Eugene Levy, dean of the College of Science, said he personally thought the UA has too many degree programs and that eliminating those which see little or no students enrolled is a "perfectly reasonable" process to follow.
"We are financially stressed," he said in reference to the UA's overall state of budget affairs.
The College of Science, he said, is looking at programs and finding out where it can consolidate with little or no impact on students.
"Those students who will be affected can be accommodated elsewhere in the college," he said.
Levy said his college is looking at eliminating a general science bachelor's degree in geosciences and a general Ph.D. in botany. Those programs, he said, have seen little or no enrollment in the last several years and cuts in them will not have a signifi cant impact on students.
Agriculture Dean Eugene Sander, however, said he forwarded a plan to Sypherd that would "significantly" impact a number of departments in his college.
Dealing with efficiency
Cuts are not new at the UA. Since fall 1990, the UA has eliminated 47 programs, including majors in agriculture, animal health science, entomology, geology, horticulture, landscape architecture, mathematics and physical education.
Associated Students President Benjamin Driggs said SPBAC is not looking at eliminating departments and, so far, no recommendation for any program's elimination has been made.
"They will want some sort of action taken this year, but I think this will be a two- or three-year process," said Driggs, who serves on the committee.
He did say, however, that he thought the UA has too many degree programs.
"That presents an efficiency problem that the UA would like to deal with," he said. "As a student leader, I support consolidating some degree programs into areas that have the highest student need."
Consolidation, Driggs said, might solve problems that occur when degrees overlap. On the other hand, he said, consolidation might limit undergraduate or graduate work in affected colleges.
The other option, elimination, would affect only programs that see little or no student enrollment.
The College of Fine Arts recently merged 11 specialized degree programs, which, Dean Maurice Sevigny said, did not result in any significant loss to his college.
The consolidation, said Fine Arts Associate Dean Steve Hedden, related to the music and dance departments and did not result in the elimination of any degree programs.
Four programs; art history, theater arts, media arts and dance; were consolidated into one program that was listed as a B.A. "with a major in" art or theater or dance, Hedden said.
In music, he said, the faculty voted to consolidate jazz studies and music composition into the bachelor of music and performance degree program. Hedden said those two are critical to the students' coursework and their elimination could not be justified.
Another trend Fine Arts faculty examined concerned an upswing in student enrollment, Hedden said.
"If you looked at the history of those degrees five years ago," Hedden said, "the degrees that were issued were low."
Hedden said 102 students are now enrolled in music and 78 in dance, compared to 50-plus students enrolled in those programs five years ago.
Cleaning up the system
The university is also looking to its own computer system to eliminate defunct degree programs that can be wiped from existence, said John Wilson, the UA's director of decision and planning support.
"There's a whole lot of cleanup," he said. "We should be able to cut 15 to 20 degree programs that are relatively unused."
Wilson said the problem centers around departments that rename degree programs from one catalog to another without ridding the computer system of the previous name.
The problem that occurs, he said, is that the catalog shows two different degree programs when only one exists.
One solution, he said, is to have a team track the progress of those degrees as they are developed or institute an annual review process, to keep the computer system cleaned up.
Levy said the benefits that result from cuts or mergers may not be seen in actual dollars, but rather seen in the effective use of current resources.
"My deepest concern," he said, "is that the future of (Arizona) is being sold down the river with the current state of budgetary affairs."
The Administration is considering cutting Low-Enrollment Degree Programs, programs which generates less than ten graduates a year. How do you feel about that?
"I think it's crap. We need people to do those jobs."
-Sheri Forst
Anthropology junior
"People paid good money to come here, they should be allowed to get the degree they want."
-Elana Soltz
Psychology junior
"It's a shame. The University of Arizona should offer a well-rounded education."
-Hugh Waltzon
Management Information Systems junio
"If there's not that much interest, I don't see any reason there should be programs if another college offers it."
-Chuck Beard
Excercise and sports sciences junior
