News Releases

Academic Programs To Be Evaluated

February 11, 2008

The University of Southern Maine will be evaluating 26 academic majors, certificate and degree programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels in an effort to ensure that they are responding to student needs.

“We’re taking this action because it is our firm belief that any prudently managed university should, as a matter of course, evaluate its academic offerings to ensure that we are responsive to the needs of our students and the community at large,” said USM Interim President Joseph Wood. “Our students who pay tuition and Maine citizens who support us with their tax dollars and private monies deserve nothing less.”

Faculty have been asked to develop plans which will lead to several goals, among them increasing student enrollment and graduation rates. All of the 26 programs have low student enrollment and graduation rates.

Plans to achieve these goals must be developed by April 1 of this year. Failure to develop a satisfactory plan, and set in place strategies to implement it, will result in programs being moved to a suspension-of-admission status by July 1 of 2008. Suspension-of-admission status is the first step toward full suspension and elimination of a program.

This action would not affect any students enrolled as majors in these programs.

Wood and USM Interim Provost Mark Lapping announced the decision Friday afternoon.    

Wood explained that suspension of admission would not lead to layoffs of tenure-line faculty, nor would elimination of a program necessarily do so. It would, however, decrease USM’s dependence on adjunct, part-time and fixed-length faculty in many disciplines. “We still would need full-time faculty to teach courses for other programs as well as general education courses,” said Wood. “In addition, courses still would be offered in many, if not all, of the disciplines identified in the lists of affected programs. That said, we don’t necessarily need a major in each of these disciplines.”

“This action is not a reflection on academic quality,” said Wood. “Students across many disciplines have told us in focus groups and other settings that our faculty members are engaged teachers and mentors.  Rather, this action is the result of low student demand for majors in these programs.” In 2007, the 26 programs graduated fewer than 65 students in total.  

“Clearly, we must evaluate, in a strategic and deliberate fashion, proposals to reorganize, reduce, eliminate, or when warranted by market conditions, develop new programs,” said Wood.  “USM will be a more sustainable university, and one better positioned to serve our students.”

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