UNCG chancellor announces academic program cuts. Here’s what’s being discontinued.
UNC Greensboro will stop offering 20 academic programs after students currently enrolled in the programs finish their studies — the result of a months-long “academic portfolio review” that faculty and students widely criticized.
UNCG Chancellor Franklin Gilliam announced the program cuts Thursday, finalizing preliminary suggestions from the university’s deans and provost that were announced in recent weeks.
“These programmatic choices were difficult, and I recognize they will disappoint some of us,” Gilliam said in his announcement.
Students enrolled in the affected programs will be able to finish their degrees, but effective next semester, new students will not be allowed to enroll in the programs. Some discontinued programs, such as physics, will also remain in some capacity to allow students to complete lower-level courses that are required by related majors.
It is unclear exactly how — and how quickly — faculty in the discontinued programs will be impacted. Gilliam has said the process to “wind-down” programs will take years, and said in his announcement Thursday that “no changes to faculty or staffing assignments will take effect in any of the discontinued programs in the immediate future.”
“There are not going to be layoffs tomorrow or something like that,” Gilliam told The News & Observer Thursday.
The portfolio review, which formally began last spring but dates back to 2022, received significant pushback from some members of the university community this academic year, taking the form of marches, rallies and online petitions — both against the review itself and, more recently, against specific proposed program cuts.
Gilliam described the review as a best practice in higher education, and said it was necessary to improve the university’s financial standing following undergraduate enrollment declines and a change to the UNC System’s funding model for its campuses.
“Fundamentally, this is about the future,” Gilliam said in his announcement Thursday. “By better aligning resources with our mission, student and community needs, and competitive demands, we ensure UNCG’s academic and financial footing for the next generation.”
But students and faculty consistently raised concerns about the process by which the review was conducted, saying it was not transparent and that they received mixed messaging about why the review is needed and the possible outcomes. Their trust was further eroded by leaders making revisions mid-review to the rubrics used to assess programs and Gilliam initially reporting incorrect totals for the number of students enrolled in the programs that would potentially be cut, among other issues.
Gilliam and the university have disputed claims about a lack of transparency during the review, noting the university held dozens of engagement events about the process and that faculty and staff were involved in the process to create the rubrics.
“There’s a difference between not liking the outcomes and not liking the process,” Gilliam told reporters in November, adding that the university had “nothing to hide.”
Professors speak out against review, cuts
Tensions over the review appeared to intensify in recent weeks, as it neared its end and preliminary lists of impacted programs were released.
An associate dean in the university’s College of Arts and Sciences, citing qualms with the review process that included a lack of fairness and transparency, resigned from his position in late January. On Monday, the university’s Faculty Senate, an elected group of roughly 40 members representing the broader faculty, voted to censure Gilliam and Storrs for not consulting with the senate or “providing a clear rationale of the choice of program closures.”
The Faculty Senate on Wednesday passed two additional resolutions, with one asking for a postponement of Gilliam’s decision due to a lack of “proper” faculty input and review. The other resolution said, in part, that the review was “characterized by a breakdown in shared governance” — the structure used to ensure university decision-making includes the perspectives and expertise of the faculty, administrators and other groups.
Several faculty members from impacted programs and departments spoke at length about the review at Wednesday’s senate meeting, pleading for additional consideration before Gilliam — who also attended the meeting — finalized the cuts.
Gilliam said in his announcement Thursday he and Provost Debbie Storrs “closely reviewed the letters, emails, online submissions, spoken remarks, and additional documents provided in recent weeks” and “took it all to heart.”
Alicia Aarnio, an associate professor in the physics and astronomy department, said that while her department might “look too small to be worth supporting,” the review did not fully capture how the department contributes to diversity and inclusivity in the field overall. Referencing the small number of Black physicists in the U.S., Aarnio noted that the department has supported a handful of students in recent years who will eventually increase those numbers by earning their doctoral degrees in the field.
“If physics and astronomy here is eliminated, what UNCG is telling students is: ‘You can find your way here, but only the ways we’ll let you find,” Aarnio said, alluding to a slogan the school uses, “Find your way here.”
“And what seems like it makes sense in the short term will have long-term consequences of further excluding access for students, which betrays one of our core values as an institution,” Aarnio said.
Lisa McDonald, director of the university’s speech and hearing center, said there is a “critical need” for doctoral-level speech language pathologists and audiologists, and urged against the discontinuation of the university’s program in that area.
“The need is clear, and we respectfully ask that this recommendation be reconsidered,” McDonald said.
A handful of faculty spoke about the religious studies department, which met a slightly different fate Thursday than other discontinued programs. While the bachelor’s degree in that area will be discontinued, a new religious studies concentration will be added to the university’s Liberal and Professional Studies Program — a move Gilliam said came from a “thoughtful recommendation” by the religious studies faculty when he met with the group.
“Religious studies made a very compelling case, as they focused on the future,” Gilliam told The N&O, adding that the proposal addressed how faculty would attract new enrollment and “take accountability.”
Not all faculty disapproved of the review and how it was handled. Faculty Senate Chair Tami Draves read a letter, which she said was sent to her anonymously, in which faculty outlined their “strong and unwavering support for” for Gilliam and the provost.
But several faculty, speaking broadly about the review process Wednesday, took issue with how it was handled.
Jonathan Tudge, a professor in the human development and family studies department, said the process “changed his mind” about Gilliam and his leadership.
“I no longer have confidence in transparency, getting correct information, getting correct data, so many other things,” Tudge said. “I’ve lost confidence completely. My bet is, I’m not alone.”
Charles Bolton, the associate dean who resigned last month, said faculty did not entirely disagree with the need for the review. Instead, faculty took issue with how the process was “mismanaged by this administration at every stage of the process,” Bolton said.
“Despite the administration’s recent statements, the faculty do not oppose this APR because we favor the status quo,” Bolton said, referencing a statement Gilliam released in response to the senate voting to censure him.
Bolton said the university needed a “do-over” with the review.
“It will still be painful, and it will take time,” he said. “But we need to get this right.”
Asked by The N&O Thursday whether he would have changed anything about the review or done anything differently, Gilliam said he and other university leaders would “reflect” on the process, but said it was “too fresh ... to really say anything, I think, substantively meaningful about learnings in the process.”
Full list of UNCG academic program cuts
The programs that will be eliminated from the university’s offerings, as decided by Gilliam and announced Thursday, are:
Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology
Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education in Geography
Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science in Physics
Bachelor of Arts in Physical Education, Teacher Education (K-12)
Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies (Religious Studies will remain as a concentration in the Liberal and Professional Studies Program)
Undergraduate minor in Chinese
Undergraduate minor in Russian
Undergraduate language courses in Korean
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Nursing
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Advanced Practice Foundations (Nursing)
Master of Arts in Applied Geography
Master of Fine Arts, Drama Concentration in Directing (Concentrations in Musical Direction for Musical Theatre, Theatre for Youth, and Design will continue)
Master of Fine Arts in Interior Architecture
Master of Arts in Languages, Literatures and Cultures
Master of Arts in Teaching in Languages, Literatures and Cultures
Master of Arts in Mathematics — all concentrations
Master of Education in Special Education
Dual Masters in Nursing Science and Business Administration, with 10 students enrolled. (The standalone MBA and standalone Master of Science in Nursing will not be affected.)
PhD in Communication Sciences and Disorders
PhD in Computational Mathematics
Admission to the university’s Master of Fine Arts in Drama — concentration in Acting and the PhD program in Social Work, will also be paused.
