The University of Connecticut is going to be reviewing 70 undergraduate majors, a minimum of 240 programs, that have low enrollment and will potentially cut them entirely.
According to NBC Connecticut, the UConn administration has stated that it is currently asking educators for ideas to revise and address certain programs that have been struggling with enrollment in the past few years.
Based on the UConn Provost’s Report, the programs being considered have seen fewer than 100 graduating students within the past five years. Plans to revise these programs include modifying their curriculum, consolidating related majors into a single program, or cutting them entirely.
On Friday, October 18th, UConn President Radenka Maric along with Provost and Executive Vice President Anne D’Alleva came out with a statement in response to the news about UConn potentially cutting programs.
“We want to reiterate that these are all possible outcomes. The goal of this effort is not simply the automatic closure of undersubscribed programs; any decisions about a program’s future will be made by the dean’s and other academic leaders in partnership with the Provost’s Office as part of the evaluation process,” said Maric.
Some of the programs in consideration for being dropped include:
- Animal Science
- Environmental Science
- Environmental Studies
- English Education
- History Education
- Mathematics Education
- Marine Sciences
- Music
- Africana Studies
- Women’s Gender & Sexuality Studies
“I think that for many people, myself included, one of the allures of attending a large state university is that it has the funding to support a wide variety of smaller programs. I think that using [total enrollment as the metric] to measure how successful a program is is not realistic,” says junior environmental sciences major and marine sciences minor, Monica Doherty.
Doherty also expressed what she values in these smaller majors along with her concern about UConn disposing of these programs for financial reasons.
“Environmental science, theatre, music, and education majors are never going to have the numbers that economics or business have, but that does not mean that they are failed programs or that they should close. Rather, in my experience, it has allowed for me to achieve the small college feel in some classes that small universities laud as one of their selling points.”
According to the CT Post, Board of Trustees Chair Daniel Toscano said that the University of Connecticut will not cut all 70 majors, but did mention the possibility of a few of those programs being dropped.
According to President Maric, academic dean’s at UConn have until Friday, November 1st to fully review these programs and submit a report regarding planned program closures.
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