More than 40 programs slated for elimination

The budget cuts in the state have had an effect on public institutions, including the University of Northern Iowa.

However, the programs being discontinued at UNI are not directly related to the budget cuts. Rather, it is part of a process that began last year.

More than 40 majors, minors, certificates and emphases are slated for discontinuation at the moment. Program eliminations are being reviewed through the normal curriculum review process, which begins with the academic departments.

The process started last fall with the Academic Program Assessment Task Force One. The team worked to develop a process to collect information about the more than 300 programs at UNI. They also developed criteria to evaluate the programs.

“The goal was to give faculty and programs an in-depth look at their programs to see where they could improve,” said Co-Chair of the Academic Program Assessment Task Force Two Phyllis Baker. “That would be a by-product of doing the Academic Program Assessment.”

The information that was collected included self-studies by each program and external studies, administered by outside parties, to provide some objectivity.

The criteria used to categorize a program included its centrality to the university and contributions. Student demand for a program was another criterion and was based on enrollment statistics provided by the Office of Institutional Research.

“The most significant factor in whether a program was cut was student demand, enrollment in a program,” said Co-Chair of the Academic Program Assessment Task Force Two Gerald Smith. “Low student demand and constantly being forced to offer classes with very (few) students puts you at risk of being recommended for phase-out.”

Other criteria were the level of teaching and curriculum, scholarship and creative accomplishments, outreach and engagement with groups outside of the university and an optional criterion called “opportunity for distinction.”

Many of these criteria included questions about a program’s plans for improvement. Baker explained the next part of the process, which took place last spring.

“Task Force Two’s duties were then to collect all that information and then determine what we thought and recommend to the provost and the (UNI) president whether to phase out the program, to maintain the program or to reorganize, consolidate or reduce the program,” Baker said.

Once these recommendations were made, the Provost’s Office and the deans of each college reviewed them. The deans and the Provost’s Office have confirmed the discontinuation of some programs and reorganization of others.

“The Academic Program Assessment was a demanding, but important, process,” Provost Gloria Gibson said. “The campus is moving forward with the recommendations.”

This continues to the college senates, the university and graduate curriculum committees, the University Faculty Senate and the Provost’s and President’s Offices.

The eliminations will go to the state Board of Regents for final approval. Programs that are slated for reorganization will submit a reorganization plan to the respective college’s dean and to the provost by March 1, 2010.