DE PERE (NBC 26) — St. Norbert College administrators say the school is in the process of cutting programs and positions to shore up its long-term finances.
At a closed-door town hall meeting Tuesday night, students learned the school is considering "reimagining" four majors—Mathematics Education, Music Education, Philosophy, and Spanish Education—and eliminating 13 majors:
- Art & Art Education
- Chemistry
- Computer Science
- Earth Science / Geology
- French
- History
- International Studies
- Mathematics
- Physics
- Engineering Physics
- Theatre Studies
- Theology & Religious Studies
- Psychology Education
A student whose program might be cut says the town hall was tense.
"I think this was really the culmination of that anger, fear, frustration, and sadness for students," said junior Scotlyn Roemhild, a Theology & Religious Studies major. "And there was, for the first time, this sense of urgency that my major is no longer going to be offered at this college, and I need to figure out what's next for me."
The school says students in the affected programs will be able to finish their degrees.
"We will work with them individually to make that happen," Vice President and Chief Academic Officer Valerie Martin Conley said. "So we've developed program completion plans and individual degree completion plans for the students who have declared those programs."
Watch: St. Norbert considers eliminating 13 majors: School community responds
The cuts are part of a process to get the school's finances in order.
"This is an essential step toward ensuring the academic quality and long-term financial strength of the college, given the significant challenges facing the higher education sector," the school wrote in an email Tuesday evening.
Retrenchment indicates tenured faculty may lose their jobs. NBC 26 spoke with some faculty members Tuesday night who did not want to go on camera, one saying, "The faculty are reluctant to speak openly, fearing retribution from the administration."
The faculty member, whose program would be affected by the recommended cuts, also said:
"[Students] come to St. Norbert because it offers a liberal arts education. And what the administration is doing is effectively gutting the liberal arts."
Another professor, who could also lose their job, told us finding another tenure-track position is very difficult, saying:
"It's not like in other fields, where you just go get another job. This is career-ending for some people."
The faculty member added: "It's devastating, personally and professionally. It's pretty unthinkable in terms of what it will mean for the future of the school and for our students."
The school says any affected faculty members will be given 10 months' notice or paid the equivalent severance.
"What do you say to someone who thought they were going to have a job for life, but now may need to be leaving the college?" we asked the school's president, Laurie Joyner.
"These are really heart-wrenching decisions, and it's a really difficult process," Joyner said. "But I'm really proud that from my very first days on this campus, I've been as honest as I could be with everyone. I have been as transparent as I could be, and we have engaged in consistent communication, and we've worked through the principles of shared governance, so none of this is happening with one person in an office."
The list of majors to potentially be cut is just a recommendation at this point—the president will take it into consideration when making her final recommendations to the Board of Trustees. Joyner indicated that a final decision could come by March or April, but an email from the college Tuesday night said, "There is no timeline, and this process is ongoing."
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