![]() ![]() ![]() Students, faculty and alumni from the soon-to-be-eliminated journalism major said they were disappointed by the university's decision, but say they saw it coming. ![]() "Through the administrative and academic actions OWU has taken during the past six months, Ohio Wesleyan has become a more focused, more efficient university," he said. Jones believes OWU is far ahead of other institutions just beginning to reexamine their structure and operations in the midst of the pandemic, he wrote last week. OWU already was forecasting a $7.5 million deficit for the 2020-2021 school year and was reviewing ways to cut costs even before the COVID-19 pandemic. Construction debt accounted for some of that deficit, but the university also faced “a shrinking population of prospective students, increasing competition, and families less able to afford the rising cost of higher education,” Jones said at the time. More: Ohio Wesleyan announces $10 million in cuts In May, to avoid a major deficit, the school previously announced cuts totaling $10 million, including the elimination of 44 non-teaching staff members and reduced retirement contributions, among other major changes. The academic changes follow sweeping cuts at the liberal arts university earlier this year. I really want to study Japanese, like probably for the rest of my college career, so that kind of puts a dent in that (plan)," she said. With the consolidations resulting in a new Department of World Languages, Do now isn't sure what courses will be offered. Philosophy and Religion to form a new Department of Philosophy and Religion.įirst-year student Lan Do is majoring in zoology, which isn't affected, but she also hoped to study Japanese during her time at OWU.Classics and Modern Foreign Language into a new Department of World Languages.Music and Theatre & Dance departments to create a new Department of Performing Arts.Remaining botany-microbiology faculty and the Department of Zoology into a new Department of Biological Sciences.Some Geography and botany-microbiology faculty to form a new Department of Environment & Sustainability.Black World Studies and Women's and Gender Studies to develop a new Department of Critical Identity Studies.Ohio Wesleyan also announced it will consolidate the following: Jones assured "every student who has declared a major in one of these affected areas" before then will have access to courses and resources needed to complete their major. 19, the university will no longer accept new students to these majors that are to be phased out and eliminated: comparative literature, computational neuroscience, dance, earth science education, earth sciences, geology, German, health promotion, journalism, Middle Eastern studies, planetary science, pre-optometry, pre-public administration, pre-theology, religion, urban studies, and certain chemistry and biochemistry majors that were certified by the American Chemical Society. But Jones said OWU will continue to offer more majors than most other schools its size. The university has a total enrollment of less than 1,500.Įffective Dec. The elimination of the 18 majors takes a significant bite out of the academic offerings at the liberal arts university, which currently includes nearly 100 majors. "Our goal has been to ensure that we are providing students a vibrant education enriched by the breadth of the liberal arts and the depth of focused expertise in key programs and majors that our students and the world need most," Jones wrote. The university expects to eliminate just one currently filled faculty position as part of the changes, though a number of faculty are also participating in an early retirement program, said OWU spokesman Cole Hatcher. The cuts follow a year of "rigorous" review of the university's academic program, OWU president Rock Jones said in an email to students last week. Ohio Wesleyan University has announced it will eliminate 18 majors and consolidate several other departments, a move expected to save nearly $4 million. ![]()
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