Plan to Phase Out 2 Dozen Programs Stuns Faculty at Wisconsin-Superior

http://www.chronicle.com/article/Plan-to-Phase-Out-2-Dozen/241643

Faculty members at the University of Wisconsin at Superior said they were "blindsided" by this week’s announcement that the university was suspending more than two dozen academic programs, including majors in political science, sociology, and theater.

The programs were being phased out, the university said, as part of a streamlining process to make it easier for students to graduate on time. First-generation students, who make up 46 percent of the student body, tend to get overwhelmed by too many course offerings, university administrators said. As a result, they added, students often make bad decisions that cause them to take too many credits, incur too much debt and take too long to graduate.

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The suspensions, which also include minors in computer science, physics, and journalism, were announced Tuesday morning at a department chairs meeting and then quickly posted on the university’s web page. The move surprised many in academe and prompted a backlash from faculty members who said they weren’t consulted first.

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Khalil Dokhanchi, a professor of political science who has been at the university for 25 years, said that he has "absolutely no idea what this means for me," but that he plans to stay on.

"They’re saying that poor, working-class students can’t make decisions because there are too many choices. It’s offensive," he said.

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