Academic Prioritization report indicates 31 percent of programs may be considered for reduction
Provost Gary Shapiro has recommended nearly one-third of Central Michigan University’s academic programs either receive less support or be targeted for elimination.
Following a process that began more than a year ago, Shapiro’s preliminary Academic Prioritization report was released Thursday to the campus community.
It evaluates 401 programs, placing them into priorities ranked one through five. Priorities 4 and 5 include programs suggested, respectively, to be “retained, but at a lower level of support” and made a “candidate for reduction, phase out or consolidation with another program.” About 17 percent were distributed to Priority 4 and 16 percent to Priority 5.
“Not all of them will necessarily be deleted, but a substantial number will,” Shapiro said. “It’s not blanketed.”
Shapiro’s recommendations and priority rankings are listed online under Academic Priorization Results.
Next to each program is a “short rationale,” which Shapiro said explains how it received its ranking. These recommendations were written by Shapiro and the CMU college deans, though Shapiro said he had the final edit. These rankings, according to the provost’s report, are expected to be used in decisions regarding supplies, equipment and tenure-track and fixed-term faculty lines.
For students now enrolled in low-priority programs, Shapiro said they will be able to graduate. No additional students would be admitted to these programs, but provisions would be made for current students.
Shapiro said the university will not terminate regular faculty who instruct for a low-priority program. Rather, they will be moved.
The Faculty Association should communicate with their deans on this matter, Shapiro said.
Reactions
A public forum regarding Academic Prioritization is set for 4 p.m. on Monday in the Charles V. Park Library Auditorium. Meetings with students and various groups will also be scheduled during the next two weeks. Shapiro will consider concerns presented and adjust the preliminary report as needed before submitting a final report to University President George Ross. Shapiro expects the recommendations to be approved and take effect next semester.
The report’s release had been delayed twice prior to Thursday. Shapiro said this was because of the need to quadruple-check facts, and that it was frustrating, but necessary for accuracy.
CMU had no intention to save a preset amount of money, Shapiro said.
“The intention was not to save dollars,” he said. “The attempt was to reallocate dollars in the best possible way.”
During the creation process, some appealed for changes, many of which Shapiro said he approved.
“There was a number of people who said, ‘Here’s some additional information; can we change this?’” Shapiro said. “There might have been about 10 or 12, of which seven or eight were changed.”
So far, academic college administrators’ reactions to the report have been generally positive, Shapiro said.
Charles Crespy, dean of the College of Business Administration, said the college worked intimately with the provost during the process and had no appeal for the rankings. It was difficult cutting programs, he said, but overall he feels the process will transform the CMU business college into a state-of-the-art department.
“It does a wonderful job of identifying where the colleges need to go in the years ahead and how we can make our college better,” he said.
Most programs in the College of Science and Technology’s Earth and atmospheric sciences department did not rank more importantly than three. Only the meteorology program, which merged with the geology department in 2010 to form the current one, ranked at No. 2.
Sven Morgan, Earth and atmospheric sciences department chairman and professor, said the prioritization process seems to factor in enrollment and tuition revenue more than it does program quality.
Morgan points to the department’s 99-percent employment rate for Earth and atmospheric alumni. The provost’s report indicated low enrollment for select department majors, although enrollment as a whole has still been increasing for the last four to five years, Morgan said.
The College of Science and Technology saw four programs ranked as No. 1 priority: undergraduate biochemistry, computer engineering, environmental science and the master’s of science in physics program.
However, undergraduate majors in physics, geography, math, general biology and computer science were all prioritized at No. 4.
“I don’t really like the way it was organized,” Morgan said. “We feel like we have a high-quality program.”
Staff Reporter Jake Bolitho and Online Coordinator Jackie Smith contributed to this report.
