STORRS, Conn. — The University of Connecticut is evaluating at least 245 programs at risk of being cut because of continuing budget problems.
The Provost's Report lays out the details of those being reviewed.
Overall, 70 undergraduate majors, 72 masters degrees, 76 graduate certificate programs and 27 doctoral programs are included.
The administration told faculty on Oct. 18 that not all of these programs will be closed. Some will continue with changes or be consolidated with other majors.
The university is now asking departments for their input, and the uncertainty is leaving many students and faculty members feeling restless.
“We’re very concerned about the future of these programs and the future of UConn as a whole,” Christopher Vials, associate professor of English and president of the university’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, said. “This means that students may soon have much fewer majors to choose from and a lot fewer classes to choose from and potentially larger class sizes as well.”
The majors that might be on the chopping block are those with fewer than 100 graduates over the past five years, including subjects such as art, philosophy, computer engineering, English and world languages.
“World language education is a critical shortage area, which means there are more positions open in the state than there are teachers to fill those,” Michele Back, associate professor, world languages education, said. “I am concerned because if the language program is scaled down, there’s going to be less of a population for me to recruit from.”
Andrea Celli teaches Italian and describes this collective feeling within his department:
“Uncertainty among all the people involved,” Celli said. “You talk to a student and say your major won’t exist in two years, that is very upsetting.”
One of his students, Maria Brennan, is set to graduate with an Italian degree and plans to teach the language someday.
“To hear that a program is going to be cut makes me feel like, do you think this is not essential? Do you think this is not important? Because it very much so is. Languages are extremely important,” Brennan said.
She fears those applying to college might look elsewhere, if there's a smaller pool of majors at UConn to choose from.
“UConn is known for its wide range of majors and to reduce or cut down or combine them, I think that will make people who are looking at schools say, 'I guess I’ll go somewhere else,' and it’s really sad because UConn is an amazing school,” Brennan said.
And educators say that trend might lead to even lower enrollment and a drop in the university’s national standing.
“UConn has fallen in the U.S. News and World Report rankings very dramatically in the course of just one year, and we fear that we’ll fall further,” Vials said.
The most recent U.S. News and World Report ranked UConn 32rd on the list of top public universities. It came in 23rd just a few years ago in 2021.
In a letter to staff last week, the university president and provost described the changes as “academic housekeeping” and gave departments with low enrollment the following options to consider:
-Modify the program with curriculum changes
-Consolidate the major with others
-Keep the major with a plan to boost enrollment
-Close the program
“We’re being asked on a very short timeline to justify our existence or be shuttered,” Vials said.
Vials worries the looming reductions are just the start of a larger strategy to scale back.
“This move toward program cuts are really the first step in a broader plan,” he said. “What we are seeing also is a plan to hire less tenure-line research instructors and more lecturers who are doing a higher teaching load. That really compromises our status as a flagship university at a Research 1.”
Plans to close programs must be submitted to the provost’s office by Nov. 1, with the UConn Board of Trustees set to vote on the fate of departments at their Dec. 11 meeting.
But many faculty members hope the university reconsiders before tough choices are made.
“We’re interested in a review but not at gun point and not with the idea that the end goal is to spend less in programs that are vital for the state,” Celli said.
This all comes as UConn is facing a $70 million shortfall in fiscal year 2025, and leaders are asking for an additional $47 million from the state budget in the upcoming session.
State lawmakers are now weighing in on what’s happening in Storrs. Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney wrote:
“UConn is proud of its ranking as a Research 1 university, which only 3% of American colleges and universities achieve. Therefore, it is incongruous that Connecticut’s flagship state university is adopting a Wal-Mart-like approach to some of its less-popular majors, to the extent that majors graduating only 100 or so students over five years could be put in some sort of academic ‘close-out’ bin. Many of these courses serve as class options for undergraduate students looking to fulfill their core requirements needed for graduation. Eliminating them would be short-sighted and ultimately have a negative impact on UConn’s reputation and appeal.
“My hope is that the Provost’s office will find – perhaps through administrative savings – a way to maintain these courses and programs, in much the same way the General Assembly has year after year found a way to maintain or increase UConn’s funding, even as we contend with state budget spending caps and the end of pandemic federal funding," Looney.
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Bridgette Bjorlo is an anchor and reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at bbjorlo@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
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