A review of university and college degree programs is going on across the state that may lead to some degrees being cut at multiple universities, including several at UCF.
With major cuts in the education budget happening in the state Legislature, a panel of the 11 state universities’ provosts, which has already been reviewing degree programs for nearly a year, has been getting more attention lately. But KnightNews.com has learned the decision to cut degrees is ultimately up to the individual university leadership. In other words, the review and possible degree cuts is not an edict from Tallahassee or the Florida Board of Governors.
“This project is not owned by the Florida Board of Governors; it is being led and guided by the chief academic officers – the provosts – of the 11 universities,” BOG spokeswoman Kelly Layman told KnightNews.com.
“The Board of Governors is extensively interested, however, in their hard work, their data, and their findings and recommendations, as the Board embarks on its next strategic plan for our State University System in near-term years,” she added.
Layman said the academic degree programs review is a system-wide initiative known as the Academic Coordination Project which builds on the routine reviews that each university already does annually.
Layman said while the program “is an intensive review of academic degree offerings” that “there are no targeted-for-elimination degree programs or similar drivers in this project.”
KnightNews.com asked UCF about the possibility of cutting more degrees, and a spokesman acknowledged that cuts are possible, but stressed that the degree programs which would be most likely to be cut are the ones which produce a “small degree productivity.”
UCF spokesman Chad Binette pointed out, however, that just because a degree program turns out fewer degrees per year than others, doesn’t mean its less valuable.
“Many programs with small degree outputs are nevertheless very valuable for universities and their communities,” Binette said. “We will review our such programs closely and with the best interest of our students and community in mind.”
According to UCF, there are five programs currently being reviewed.
Foreign Language Teacher Education – Bachelor’s
Foreign Languages and Literature, General – Bachelor’s
Statistics, General – Bachelor’s
Chemistry, Other (Industrial Chemistry) – Master’s
Forensic Science and Technology – Master’s
UCF is also working to protect a couple of other degree programs that could have made the list, according to Binette. “We are recommending that the doctoral programs in Conservation Biology and Sociology be continued because they are still classified as new programs,” he said.
KnightNews.com will continue to monitor this story.
