Elizabeth Erwin
News Editor
eerwin1@murraystate.edu
Fifteen programs are on the chopping block for the 2018-2019 academic year, as state budget cuts continue to impact universities statewide.
During its quarterly meeting on June 8, the Board of Regents approved the suspension of the Bachelor of Arts in French, Bachelor of Arts in German, Master of Science in Nonprofit Leadership Studies and the Gifted and Talented program area within the Department of Educational Studies.
The Board also approved the suspension for six additional programs. However, these suspensions are still pending approval from the Academic Council.
The pending suspensions include the Masters in Economics, Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, Surveying, Master of Arts in Elementary Education in Teacher Leadership, Master of Arts in Childhood Education in Teacher Leadership and Teacher Leader Masters in Secondary Education.
“A suspended program can remain dormant for five years at which time it moves to deleted status,” Director of Communication Shawn Touney said.
Five programs were also approved for deletion.
These programs include the Master of Science in Athletic Training, Gerontology Undergraduate Certificate, Registered Dietician Certificate, Faith-based Social Work Undergraduate Certificate and the Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders Undergraduate Certificate.
“A program that is deleted must be re-proposed and approved by the university, Board of Regents, and the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education before being made available for students to enroll,” Touney said.
Students that are currently enrolled in the programs slated for suspension or deletion will not be impacted by the cuts.
“Students currently enrolled in any program which has been deleted or suspended will be taught out for a maximum of a four year timeframe for bachelor’s degree programs and a two year timeframe for graduate level programs in order to satisfy the degree requirements for graduation,” Touney said.
The program cuts will not only affect students, but faculty as well.
“Faculty members who are teaching in programs which have been deleted or suspended have the opportunity to teach in other programs at the university,” Touney said. “It’s important to note that most faculty teach in multiple academic programs presently.”
Despite the cuts, the Board of Regents also approved the addition of several new certificates and minors.
The new minors include those in Fine Art Photography, Cell Biology, Game Development, Community Health Coordinator, Holistic Senior Living, Humanities, Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages and Unmanned Aerial Systems.
The addition of six new certificate programs include Community-Based Art Education, Fine Art Photography, Game Design, Career and Technical Education and Unmanned Aerial Systems Undergraduate Certificates as well as a Career and Technical Education Graduate Certificate.
President Bob Davies said that the creation of new programs will help the university-wide effort to recruit more students by allowing Murray State to become more competitive.
“Murray State University is about value,” Davies said during the Board’s special meeting on May 1. “In order to maintain high academic standards, new programs must be developed and necessary changes should be made to existing programs to ensure they remain relevant in today’s marketplace.”
Other public universities in Kentucky suspending or deleting academic programs include Eastern Kentucky University with 17 suspended programs and Kentucky State University with four programs being eliminated and one program being suspended.
In a letter to the campus community, University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto said a long-term plan to become more financially stable does not include cutting programs.
The Bowling Green Daily News reported that Western Kentucky University Provost David Lee, sent a similar email to faculty and staff letting them know that “no academic programs are being changed.”
At the latest Board of Regents meeting at Morehead State, members did not approve any program changes but did specify that tuition and housing will not increase in 2018-19.
Academic program changes were also not mentioned at the latest Northern Kentucky University BOR meeting but the board did approve a tuition hike.
Much like NKU, the University of Louisville Board of Trustees had no mention of academic programs being changed but did approve a tuition increase.
The program cuts and tuition increases across the state are a result of a 6.25% reduction of state appropriations for colleges and universities in Kentucky along with the rising cost to fund the state pension systems.
Previous coverage of university and state budget cuts can be found here.