‘Save the G’: UNCG students, faculty rally against potential academic program cuts

Some UNC Greensboro students and faculty are concerned about what UNCG calls an ongoing “academic portfolio review” that could result in programs being eliminated from the university’s academic offerings.

The review, which formally began this spring, has been the subject of significant pushback from some members of the university community this semester, taking the form of marches, rallies and an online petition against the review that has been signed by nearly 4,000 people.

UNCG Chancellor Franklin Gilliam has described the review as a “best practice” in higher education, and has said it is necessary “to put the university on solid financial footing” following undergraduate enrollment declines and a change to the UNC System’s funding model for its campuses. Among other changes, that model now funds graduate programs in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields at higher rates than non-STEM programs.

Gilliam said in a State of the Campus address last month that while the university has “a very robust graduate portfolio,” he noted that because it was established as a women’s college, the university’s academic offerings have historically not been as oriented to STEM as other universities in the 17-institution UNC System.

“Given the headwinds we face, it’s important to evaluate our academic offerings in light of our values and of our mission,” Gilliam said at the address.

Students and faculty have raised concerns about the process by which the review has been conducted, saying they have received mixed messaging about why the review is needed or what the outcomes may be. The campus chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) even commissioned its own, outside assessment of the university’s financial standing, which it says contradicts the university’s reasoning.

On Thursday, about two dozen students and faculty gathered outside the university’s Alumni House, where a regularly scheduled meeting of the UNC System Board of Governors was being held. The event was organized by Concerned UNCG Graduate Students, a student group that formed this fall in response to the review.

“Somehow, some way, they have to look at us and see that we’re upset,” Azariah Journey, a leader of the concerned students group, told The News & Observer on Tuesday about the timing of the rally and its proximity to the board meeting. “And we’re respectful. We just, we care about our programs, and we hope that they see us and hear us.”

Students, faculty want more transparency

Ashley Loper-Nowak, another member of the concerned students group, told The N&O that one of her primary concerns is what many have perceived as a lack of transparency throughout the review process.

“It’s just exhausting trying to understand what’s going on,” Loper-Nowak said, adding that many students feel like they are being viewed as numbers, not students.

Mark Elliott, a history professor and the president of the campus AAUP chapter, told The N&O he feels like there has not been quality “dialogue” between faculty and university leaders.

“I think there’s been a lot of monologue of the administration telling us what they’re going to do,” Elliot said.

Board of Governors member Gene Davis, who joined the board in July after serving on the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees, spent several minutes with the group, saying he wanted to listen to them and hear their concerns.

“I don’t know the answers. I’m one member of the Board of Governors. But I do want to listen and I do want to hear,” Davis told the group. “Because what you care about and the things that you have to say about this and any other issue are important to me.”

Gilliam disputed claims about a lack of transparency Thursday after the Board of Governors meeting, nothing that the university has held dozens of engagements about the process so far, with more expected to be held after the recommendations for program cuts are made early next year. Gilliam also said faculty and staff were involved in the process to create rubrics by which academic programs will be assessed, and information and data about the review are available online.

“There’s a difference between not liking the outcomes and not liking the process,” Gilliam told reporters, adding that the university has “nothing to hide.”

The ongoing review at UNCG has drawn comparisons from faculty and students to the widespread cuts at West Virginia University this fall that resulted in more than two dozen majors and almost 150 faculty positions being eliminated. Both universities are using the same consulting group, the RPK Group, to perform assessments and reviews of academic programs.

Gilliam dismissed that comparison in his address last month, noting that UNCG is “taking a data-informed approach” to its review and that WVU is experiencing a $45 million budget shortfall. Because of enrollment declines, UNCG was projected to lose more than $8 million in funding this academic year based on the UNC System’s new funding model, but with weighted funding for performance and a one-time, stopgap funding measure, the university’s total losses were projected to come in at about $3.5 million.

“We’re not in that kind of shape,” Gilliam said of the comparison to WVU.

Some faculty and students don’t think the review is necessary, citing an outside report the university’s AAUP chapter commissioned that found “UNCG is on solid financial ground and there is no budgetary need for the cuts.” The university has disputed the claims and analysis put forward in that report, saying it was “rife with major and minor inaccuracies and misinformation.”

Students will be able to finish their degrees

At this point in the review, UNCG spokesperson Kimberly Osborne said, faculty, department chairs and deans across the university “are reviewing quantitative data and qualitative information to develop their recommendations,” which they will submit to the university’s provost, or chief academic officer.

Programs could be recommended for elimination, consolidation or expansion, Osborne said.

Gilliam said in his address last month that the university wants to invest in programs at the university that are in high demand from students, as well as those that may enroll students in fewer credit hours but still produce valuable scholarship or research, among others.

“We want to be able to invest in those programs, but we can’t if we’re distributing the money in a way that everybody gets a trophy,” Gilliam said.

As chancellor, Gilliam is tasked with making the final decisions on programs’ fates, Osborne said.

Students who are enrolled in programs that end up being cut will be able to complete their degrees, but new students will not be able to enroll in those programs, effective in the next fall semester. Osborne said any changes “will take years to implement.”

“I know that I’ll graduate. UNCG has continued to tell us that,” Journey, the graduate student, said. “But I’m worried about first-gen students who won’t have the opportunity to take part of the diverse programs that UNCG could possibly cut.”