A group of students and faculty gathered, chanting and holding signs, at UNC-Greensboro late last month. They were just outside the university鈥檚 Alumni House, where the last scheduled UNC Board of Governor's meeting of the semester was being held.
鈥淏oard of Governors, can you hear us?鈥�
鈥淗ow do you spell greedy? U-N-C-G鈥�
鈥淪ave the G,鈥� the crowd repetitively chanted.
This was the second protest on UNC-Greensboro鈥檚 campus of the semester. It was an early November morning, with a crowd of about 30 students, faculty and community members. The first was in October and brought out about 250 students.
Both protests had the same message: an urge for UNC Greensboro administration to put an end to the university鈥檚 ongoing academic program review (APR).
Omar Gonzalez is one of those concerned students. They鈥檙e studying psychology with a minor in women鈥檚 and gender studies.
To Gonzalez, a program review means program cuts, and they think the departments most at risk are in the humanities.
鈥�(The academic program review) directly affects me. It directly affects my boyfriend. It directly affects people that I know,鈥� Gonzalez said. 鈥淪o, it鈥檚 very important for me to be out here, because cutting these (programs) would stifle a lot of options that people have for these different careers we can go into.鈥�
About 3,900 students, faculty and alumni have signed echoing these concerns. The petition was started by .
The AAUP said the academic program review and possible cuts harms the university鈥檚 mission. But in his regular address in October, Chancellor Franklin Gilliam said the university can鈥檛 go on without changes.
鈥淏oth nationally and locally, the world of higher education has experienced a sea change, and it鈥檚 right here at our university 鈥� it鈥檚 right on our doorstep,鈥� Gilliam said. 鈥淪o, it seems illogical to me to believe then that the appropriate response to a profoundly changing world is to double down on the status quo.鈥�
Over the past five years, enrollment has decreased by about 10% at UNC-Greensboro.
Gilliam attributes that decline to nationally changing opinions about higher education, birth rate declines and competition within the UNC System.
鈥�94% of our students come from North Carolina,鈥� Gilliam said. 鈥淭here are 16 public universities in North Carolina and what, 10 million people? And of that 10 million, fewer of them are 18 than used to be. I mean, do the math.鈥�
At UNC-Greensboro, enrollment declines over the past few years in tuition and fee revenue. More than 85% of the school鈥檚 budget .
鈥淕iven that 71% of our budget is spent on academic affairs, we must review our academic portfolio,鈥� Gilliam said in a message to faculty, 鈥淣ot only that, but it is also a best practice and UNCG has not engaged in a comprehensive review in well over 15 years.鈥�
Gilliam said the introduction and enhanced competition for students of the system鈥檚 four 鈥� which only charges in-state students $500 for tuition 鈥� and changes to the UNC System鈥檚 funding model for its universities have also contributed to this loss.
As a result of the steep enrollment declines and resulting budget losses, leaves the university no choice but to make changes, Gilliam said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not about cutting programs, it is about sharpening our focus to allow us to invest in programs that are meeting student demands and meeting labor market demands,鈥� Gilliam said at a November Board of Governor's meeting. 鈥�... and we may have to discontinue some programs that just don鈥檛 produce for us at an institutional level high ROI (return on investment).鈥�
In order to see which programs do so, Gilliam said it is necessary to do an academic program review.
鈥淏ut we can鈥檛 if we鈥檙e distributing the money in a way that everybody gets a trophy,鈥� he said. 鈥�... we鈥檙e not after any particular set of learnings, but what we are saying is if we鈥檙e going to be able to invest in what makes us competitive, we鈥檙e going to have to make tough choices.鈥�
According to the university, the APR will take into account 鈥渟tudent demand, community distinction and grant funding.鈥�
The university has hired to help with this process. The consulting firm鈥檚 mission is to help a university develop a better business model to 鈥渕eet the needs of students and employers.鈥�
The same firm was used by West Virginia University this year. WVU has also had its share of budget problems and underwent an academic program review. The end result was the cutting of several programs, . This led to from WVU students and faculty, an overwhelming , and stoked and .
Veronica Grossi, a Latin American literature professor at UNCG, is worried the university is headed in a similar direction.
鈥淭he arts and humanities play a central role (in a well-rounded education),鈥� Grossi said. 鈥淲hat it looks like is this administration has targeted the heart of what is a university, because you can never quantify a sensibility.鈥�
Grossi is not alone in her concerns. Throughout the UNC System, .
In this year鈥檚 state budget, the North Carolina General Assembly made . The state will now only support distinguished professorships in STEM or science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.
This includes areas of agriculture, natural resources, computer science, engineering, engineering technology, biological sciences, math and statistics, military technology, physical sciences, health professions and nursing 鈥� according to the UNC System.
The decision was finalized at an October UNC Board of Governors meeting, where some members expressed concern for what kind of message it was sending. One of the concerned BOG members was longtime Republican donor Art Pope.
鈥淚 support the humanities, liberal arts, natural sciences 鈥� all areas of academic study that the university system offers. Not just STEM,鈥� said Pope, who also served as former Governor Pat McCrory鈥檚 Budget Director. 鈥�... I think the university's role and mission is to offer broad-based education that students choose when they elect their courses and majors.鈥�
The UNC Board of Governors, however, have also contributed to this growing pattern of prioritizing STEM.
Last year, the system changed how it funds its universities. The performance-based funding model awards universities for graduating students on time and with less debt.
It also includes an increase in funding for STEM and medical fields that鈥檚 higher than other departments. The system said the change addresses the workforce needs in the state, as well as the additional cost it takes to provide these programs.
This is the change Gilliam noted in his university address as particularly harmful to regional universities like UNC Greensboro, which started out as a liberal arts college for women.
鈥淣ot surprisingly, the curriculum was not STEM-oriented,鈥� Gilliam said during his October state of campus address. 鈥淭he gendered nature of the university, if you think about our strongest programs and where they are鈥� are in the so-called helping professions. And we do a great job, but we're not going to be rewarded for that in the funding model.鈥�
The UNC System did include a temporary 4.5% cap on funding loss for three universities 鈥� UNC-Asheville, UNC-Pembroke and UNC-Greensboro 鈥� when it passed the new funding model.
That cap saved UNC-Greensboro $2.3 million this year.
The cap isn鈥檛 enough to address the university鈥檚 overall enrollment losses. UNCG administration is hoping the academic program review will.
鈥淚t鈥檒l allow us to achieve better fiscal planning,鈥� Gilliam said during his state of campus address in October. 鈥淚t will align the academic portfolio with student demands and workforce needs, and enhance accessibility for academic success of our students.鈥�
But this same process has led to disappointment and frustration for students, like history and museum studies graduate student Azariah Journey.
鈥淲e've been lied to so much and just so disrespected as students,鈥� Journey said. 鈥淚 can't even explain how disrespected and just how used we feel. We feel like we're a number. We feel like they don't care about us. I mean, we鈥檝e been told UNCG is a business and we鈥檙e a customer.鈥�
According to the , deans are currently making recommendations for which programs should be discontinued. The final decision will be made by the chancellor, who plans to announce changes in February 2024.
