Summer studies broaden horizons
Students earn college credit for study abroad program, Page 5
DRIFTWOOD The community newspaper of the University of New Orleans
Volume: 58 Issue: 5
September 17, 2014
driftwood.uno.edu
Making the Cut
Committee evaluates degree offerings Christy Lorio Editor-in-Chief
The University of New Orleans is currently in the process of reviewing its 84 degree programs with the intent of academic revitalization in the form of restructuring and combining some programs and eliminating others. Every program is being evaluated to determine if it fits into UNO’s urban research mission, set forth by UNO President Peter J. Fos. A committee of 40 faculty leaders and deans has met for months to review the programs. The committee developed a set of criteria for evaluation and is modeling their efforts on what other universities have done. According to Dr. Richard Hansen, Interim Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at UNO, “We’ve got lots of good qualitative and quantitative data that we’re working on. We’re modeling it on stuff that’s going on nationally; we’re not just inventing this stuff.” Hansen stressed that the program discontinuances will not come from a place of budgetary concerns, but which programs fall in line with UNO’s mission. Each program will be evaluated using the weighted set of criteria, with 25 percent of the decision being made based on a program’s impact, justification and importance to the university. At the outset, Fos explained that the purpose of the study is to identify those areas that we need to reinvest in, and refocus existing money. Hansen explained that the cuts
will allow for UNO to better serve current and future students. “From a general student point of view, students will see a set of academic programs that will be stronger, better resourced, with potentially more faculty or help to get senior faculty research money…if we can gain some savings with the programs that we discontinue, we can use those funds to support other programs, or other programs that need support and are clearly within our mission that we want to grow.” Since UNO is considered an urban research school, Hansen
stressed that it is important to “align the programs with our mission of what’s going on in this area. We have to grow as an institution.” This program alignment might bring more students, too. Enrollment is currently around 9,000, but Hansen would like to see that number at 12,000 “which makes the whole enterprise function better.” Current students were initially informed of the upcoming changes during the summer in an e-mail sent out on June 13, a time when many
students don’t check their e-mail. However, Hansen said there will be lots of communication with students, particularly students that are in programs that are slated to be cut. “Technically, if a student just started a program we don’t have to teach them out, but we do have to make a good faith effort to make sure that person can either transfer someplace - which we don’t want to do - [transfer] into another degree program, or we make arrangements to teach that person out,” Hansen
said. “We will deal with every individual student to make sure they have the plan highly communicated to them…..that’s the best way to do it from an education standpoint.” The committee will meet Friday to draft a plan for the entire school to view, then send the final draft to the president on October 28. On September 10, University Registrar and Director of Institutional Research, Matthew Moore reported his findings. The data from the registrar’s research determines how a course changes the various programs and the course of education in the institution, as well how many students might be impacted. Once the committee has all of the data, it must transform the mountain of information into an accessible form from which it can then make precise assertions. The committee will grade each department on criteria such as cost and and quality, and then categorize them into four groups, according to results. Committee member Pam Jenkins pointed out that although UNO is not alone in the struggle for improvement, the changes must be according to the specific needs of the university. “We are in a crisis and our situation is unique so our technique needs to reflect that.” Additional reporting by Liz Trahan, Illustration by Amy Nguyen.
What is the one program you hope the state will continue to fund? Ty Paul Freshman, Political Science “Political science - I feel like between being a political science major and trying to be a lawyer, those are two promising career paths and choices.”
Jacob Raborn Senior, Psychology
“Psychology - it’s a very popular major. Mental health is an important part of society.”
Lauren Guthrie Graduate Student
“The arts program - I feel like a lot of people come to UNO for the arts. Music and jazz are things New Orleans is known for.”
Anwar Adbel Junior, Engineering
“Engineering - without it we wouldn’t have the levee systems and the understanding of what happened in 2005 and how to improve on those systems.”
Josh Call Sophomore, English
“I hope the liberal arts (program) gets their share.”