Faculty says degree losses not budgetary

Faculty reactions to degree cuts made by the Board of Governors at their meeting on Friday are mostly positive as most professors and administrators see the cuts as ways to streamline degrees in various departments.

"It's more of a housekeeping issue than a budget issue," Gerald Ponder, the College of Education's associate dean for academic affairs, said.

One of the degrees cut, a Bachelor of Science in Health Occupations Education, has not been an active degree for five to 10 years, according to  Ponder.  The vote by the BOG to remove this degree was merely a matter of housekeeping, Ponder said, since the BOG has to vote to allow the elimination of degrees.

Ponder also explained that "only a request from the BOG to reduce classes offered would negatively affect students."

The students in the Master of Education in Special Education will still be taught different strategies for teaching students with different special needs, just not each in a separate class.  Students will have the skills to handle more general situations, but they may not be as highly specialized for dealing with specific special needs students, according to Ellen Vasu, the department head for instruction and counselor education.

"The three specialized Master of Education in Special Education degrees that were recently cut were actually artifacts of the way teachers used to be licensed," Vasu said. "North Carolina is moving to licensing teachers not just for one type of special needs student, but for all special needs students."

She said "no one will be cut from programs, they will just be combined into one more general program, a Master of Education in Special Education."

There are currently two students enrolled in the Master of Science and Master of Education in Special Ed, Behavioral Disorders program, two students enrolled in the Master of Science and Master of Education in Special Ed, Mental Retardation program, and six students enrolled in the Master of Science and Master of Education in Special Ed, Learning Disabilities program.  All of the students enrolled in these programs will be added to the 23 students in the Master of Education in Special Education, a more general degree program.

"Most students pick two areas of special needs to concentrate in," Vasu said. "It doesn't make sense to separate all three areas into separate degrees," she said.

According to Ponder, "students in the more general Master of Education in Special Education program will learn how to deal more effectively with the whole range of students with special needs, instead of just some of the special needs students."

Rebecca Pitts, a graduate student in special education, mental retardation, did not even know that her degree had recently been cut, and didn't approve of the changes to the

"There is already a gap in EOG scores between children with special needs and regular students, and that will only get worse if teachers do not know how to teach special needs students," she said.

Pitts felt that the specialization of degrees was needed, as different strategies are needed for teaching students with different disabilities.

Class size will increase as sections are cut, but, according to Vasu, it won't impact students much.

"It's not a huge increase," she said. "Classes will go from around 15 students to around 25 students."

Ponder explained that having more students in classes should also increase the number of courses available since sometimes sections are too small to be taught.

Both Vasu and Ponder felt that the degree cuts will be positive changes for both the students and for the University.  The University will save money, and since the number of hours required to obtain a degree has been reduced from 36 to 30, it will be easier for students to get degrees.

Vasu also said the department was working to put more classes online, making them accessible to more students since graduate students often have full-time jobs.

The BOG also voted to cut the Master of Science in Agriculture and Resource Economics.  It will be replaced by the more general Masters of Science in Economics degree, which will still be a coursework-only degree that can lead a student to getting a Ph.D. in the future.  Students who want a focus on agriculture and resource economics can take electives to focus on ARE if they want, though it will no longer be a separate degree.

Tamah Morant, assistant director of graduate programs for the economics department, said the Master of Science in Agriculture and Resource Economics degree was initially identified as a low-producing program.

"The department heads in both the economics department and the department of ARE discussed and supported the decision to cut the degree," Morant said.

Morant said the idea behind the Masters of Science in Economics cut was similar to the cut of the Master of Education in Special Education cuts.

"[It's to] streamline the program without reducing the options available to students," Morant said.

The same method of a general degree with opportunities for specialization is applied to Ph.D. and non-thesis masters options in the Economics departments.

All of the faculty stressed that the degree cuts have not yet reached a point where they will negatively impact students.

"This is an overall positive change; students are not losing," Vasu said.