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The
TANGERINE
VOL. LXXVI, ISSUE 7
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2022
UTICATANGERINE.COM
Program Sunsetting: Academic program review causes concerns
◊ ISA HUDZIAK EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ◊ HOLLIE DAVID MANAGING EDITOR Utica University is undergoing an Academic Program Review spurred by a Board of Trustees resolution, which has caused unrest and questions on campus.
What is the review? As of the fall 2022 semester, Utica offers 59 majors to incoming students, but a majority of students enroll in only a handful.
The university has individually reviewed majors over the past 76 years, but this review will be the first holistic overhaul of major offerings.
According to Pfannestiel, who ran statistics prior to the semester, three majors make up almost half of enrollment: nursing, health sciences and cybersecurity. This discovery inspired a comprehensive review of the entire academic footprint of the institution.
To some faculty, the abruptness of this charge and lack of prior warning has caused uncertainty and concern.
The goal of this is to consider three possible recommendations regarding majors: which ones to add, grow or sunset.
“Walking [into the faculty meeting] in September was a big shock,” said Kirstin Walker, associate professor of therapeutic recreation and chair of the therapeutic recreation department.. “Finding out that the report had been given with no faculty discussion is not shared governance.”
“[We are] essentially asking three questions: what is not in that footprint that we should be offering, so new programs, what are some new ideas that we have resources or we believe we are positioned better than other universities that we can deliver on a new program,” Pfannestiel said.
According to Provost Todd Pfannestiel, this is a routine procedure at many other higher education institutions. “We are 76 years old and we have never done an academic program review,” Pfannestiel said. “The president and I absolutely agreed this was time… I would say moving forward, this is something that every university, including Utica, should be doing on a regular basis so it doesn’t have the shock value that I’m sure it has right now.”
He then continued to explain that some majors offered are not sought out by employers or incoming students. Additionally, the Board of Trustees’ charge cites an unsustainable faculty-tostudent ratio as a primary reason for the review. This concept has led to concerns among faculty regarding employment. “It was crushing honestly finding out that the board that has not expressed much of an interest in how things work
A sunset falls across campus and reflects on the sidewalk otuside of Bull Hall. /Photo: Alex Leland
has decided there are too many faculty and not enough students and therefore programs are going to be cut,” said Daniel Tagliarina, associate professor of political science and chair of the political science department. “It is also worrying because it was not clear what exactly that meant. Am I going to be losing colleagues, am I going to be losing my own job, what does this mean for all of us? It was communicated poorly with no real follow-up.” According to Pfannestiel, if a program is sunset, faculty might shift around course offerings from higher level to lower based on general education or minor needs. “I don’t need a faculty member hearing the phrase ‘eliminate’ and sunset and thinking like, ‘oh, what the hell am I gonna teach?’” Pfannestiel said. “No, no, no,
no, no– there is so much that we need to get done here. But will it be a change and will it create some angst? I have no doubt it will, I’d be surprised if it didn’t.” Pfannestiel continues to explain that the work done by faculty is important for the future of the university and students. This perspective contrasts to that of faculty, including Tagliarina. “If you are just getting rid of degrees, then keeping faculty, the main line of the charge, isn’t relevant,” Tagliarina said. Members of the Task Force included the four school deans, four faculty members and four staff representing the logistics of the university, appointed by the provost. CONT. ON PAGE 4