The Utica University Board of Trustees eliminated 13 majors including Philosophy, Spanish, International Studies and Geoscience.
There were 15 majors considered for cuts. The Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Bachelor of Arts in Physics were on the chopping block but were spared based on rationale from appeals made to the Board of Trustees.
Leonore Fleming is president of the American Association of University Professors, which voted to censure the Board of Trustees regarding the initially proposed cuts. She teaches philosophy — one of the soon-to-be eliminated majors.
"I wish I understood the decision more," Fleming said. "I don't understand what financial gain there is to be made with these decisions. It's hard to think of Utica University or any university actually being a university without majors like philosophy."
Fleming said the Board of Trustees has not provided any financial ramification of the decision and believes the university's report failed to provide any transparency.
"It failed to provide a clear rationale and it was clearly in violation of proper procedure in our collective bargaining agreement," Fleming said. "I think a lot of faculty, students, staff, alumni are very upset by the decision, as well as the way that it's being presented to us."
The AAUP has an ongoing grievance over the university's failure to follow shared governance and if not resolved, they'll take it to arbitration.
“This report suggests that some programs at Utica have less majors than others due to demand," Luke Perry, a Utica University professor of political science and director of the Utica University Center of Public Affairs and Election Research said. "The reality is more complicated. Overlooked was how it is Admissions’ job to recruit new students for every program and their resources have never been allocated equally across all programs. As a result, recruiting for some programs starts at third base, for others it starts at home plate, and if you don’t score enough runs, you now get cut. This is a huge challenge for majors in social sciences and humanities and will continue to be until Utica’s marketing resources are more equitably distributed.”
There are 114 students currently enrolled in the majors being eliminated. Utica University said while no future students will be admitted into the sunsetting majors, it will continue to support them until all current and admitted students have completed their program of study. The Board of Trustees' decision will be implemented at the end of the add/drop period of the Fall 2023 semester.
"We remain committed to providing our students with the exceptionally well-rounded, highly personal educational experience for which Utica is known for," Board of Trustees Chairperson Robert Brvenik said in a message to the university community. "The university will continue to offer a very broad selection of majors, and our students will continue to benefit from substantive and varied learning opportunities through our General Education program. Nothing in this report undermines that commitment, as some have suggested, or our determination to maintain the many advantages we offer our students, such as small average class sizes and a strong student-to-faculty ratio."
The eliminated majors are below with the parentheses noting the number of students currently majoring in each:
- B.S. in Criminal Justice – online delivery (21)
- B.S. in Fraud and Financial Crime Investigation – campus delivery (19)
- B.A. in Geoscience (7)
- B.S. in Geoscience (5)
- B.S. in Healthcare Management – campus delivery (12)
- B.S. in Healthcare Management – online delivery (11)
- B.A. in International Studies (6)
- B.S. in Nutrition (6)
- B.A. in Philosophy (2)
- B.B.A. in Public Relations and Marketing (15)
- B.A. in Sociology and Anthropology (3)
- B.A. in Spanish (1)
- B.S. in Therapeutic Recreation (6)
To read the full report, click here.
