University Governance sent emails the week of Sept. 29 announcing that various programs at the University of Kansas have been selected to be discontinued.
Kameron Macrorie | @kameronmacrorietv
Since then, there have been Zoom meetings to allow students and faculty to voice their opinions about these plans.
The certificates and programs in question are:
- Certificate in the Astrophysics of Origins
- Certificate in Persian Language and Culture
- Certificate in Writing
- Certificate in Creative & Analytical Writing
- Certificate in Critical Thinking & Writing
- Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Health Sciences
- Certificate in Public and Population Health
- Certificate in Nutrition
- Certificate in Arts Engagement
- Certificate in Leadership Studies
- Undergraduate Certificate in Holocaust and Genocide Studies
- BSE in Physical Education Plus
While the act of discontinuing a certificate or program sounds controversial, according to a staff member it’s actually a standard procedure by the University and the state of Kansas in order to better allocate resources to students.
“This isn’t a bad thing, this is just something that happens,” Jonathan Lamb, Associate English professor and Interim Associate Chair, said. “Students just don’t get excited by things, but then they get excited about other things.”
Lamb said that the viability of a program is determined by its enrollment and graduation numbers.
“These numbers are often determined by the regents, sometimes by the University. If a certain number of students every year are not enrolled in and graduating from a certain program, they will usually look into discontinuing it.”
University Governance cited low program enrollment as the main factor in many of these discontinuances, one of those being the Bachelor of Science in Physical Education.
“We have low enrollment within our program and the state kind of monitors for programs like that,” Ken Murfay, Program Director of the Physical Education Plus Program, said. “They give the university a choice at some point to either merge into another major or to just discontinue the major.”
The Physical Education Program will live as a concentration of the Curriculum and Teaching degree in the School of Education– a change, Murray said, that will be a great benefit to students.
“Some of the classes [in] curriculum and teaching that we’re merging into the physical education program are really some good classes that are going to help students be more rounded teachers.”
Three certificates in the English department are on the chopping block for the same reason, but Professor Lamb said this is a decision that needed to happen.
“So in the case of the English department, we’ve had these certificate programs on the books for a while,” Lamb said. “But we actually have so many students who major and minor in English, that we actually don’t funnel many students through those certificate programs, so in the end they’re just kind of there languishing when we still get students interested.”
Lamb said that discontinuing certificates with low enrollment allows those professors to focus more of their time and energy instructing students in higher populated classes.
The University Faculty Senate has held meetings open to students and faculty to hear public opinion on the value of these certificates and programs. In the next few months, they will hold another meeting for a final vote on the discontinuances, which will then be sent to the provost and chancellor to sign.
