Draft shows more than 60 programs could be cut at UNI

More than 60 University of Northern Iowa academic programs ranging from foreign language to physics are being considered for closure according to a document given Monday to the Faculty Senate.

Another 13 would either be suspended or restructured. The document also highlights 15 programs originally considered for closure that would remain.

However, university officials stressed Tuesday that the spreadsheet was a draft only and that Provost Gloria Gibson was still finalizing her recommendation for President Benjamin Allen. The final announcement could come as soon as Wednesday.

• CHECK OUT THE FULL LIST OF PROPOSED PROGRAM CUTS HERE

In an open letter to faculty, the senate Tuesday said they did not endorse, condone or “fully understand the criteria or justifications” for any program closure recommendations.

“The concern with this is that ... the actual action has come so late and without enough time for people to really feel that they have an opportunity for input, especially in light of the rapidity of the moves recently of the approval through the board,” Funderburk said.

John Deisz, an associate physics professor, said the proposed cuts to his department would lead to “a slower death.” The draft document shows the university cutting the bachelors of science physics and applied physics programs as well as an applied physics professional science master's degree.

“They restored our most limited physics major, the one we have that only 20 percent of the students graduate in,” he said. “… In practice, it really doesn't mean much. It's not really a stand-alone type of degree that can survive.”

Deisz continued that a downsized department would be unable to attract the students and faculty needed to raise the external funds to properly train them for professions in the field. He said the physics teaching endorsement could also be at risk if there were not enough students to populate the classes needed to satisfy the requirements.

Karen Couch Breitbach, a senator and instructor at Malcolm Price Laboratory School, said the Faculty Senate agreed with some of the proposed changes and believes the university should review its program regularly.

“We just want to be part of this process. The faculty is responsible for curriculum and they are making huge decisions about curriculum without any input from faculty,” she said.

Earlier in the day, President Benjamin Allen, who had not yet seen the letter, admitted there were mistakes in the process, but he believes they are correctable.

“The key is focus on the students, what is best for them and try to work through these other pieces best we can,” Allen said. “We visited with (Funderburk) and we made an effort yesterday to say ‘Moving forward how do we do this better?'”

Allen said part of that will include developing new processes, specifically when decisions need to be made on a shortened schedule.

“The problem is the external world is changing a lot faster than we are internally so we need to develop processes with the Faculty Senate that will be able to move a bit faster than we normally do because my concern is that we will lose out if we don't do that,” Allen said.

Faculty Senate leaders said they were first consulted about the proposed academic cuts on Feb. 27 and were provided information for viewing only during a closed session. A second closed meeting was held Monday when documents were given to them.

Funderburk believes they were able to impact the final list, but he also believes they could have done more.

“This list is so long,” he said. “With no prep, when you are handed dozens of programs sometimes you have somebody sitting in the room who knows the program enough to say something. Sometimes there is just nobody in the room who knows that program well enough to respond. So there may have been some others that we could have saved if we had been allowed to consult with colleagues and say ‘What about this?'”