Dean’s List: Academic program cuts at UNC Asheville expected to be announced this week

UNC Asheville Chancellor Kimberly van Noort says she’ll announce a proposal this week that will likely result in faculty layoffs and the elimination of some academic majors and programs.

The proposal will come as the result of an academic portfolio review that began last month as the university faces significant “financial pressures,” van Noort said in a May 1 campus message. The Asheville Citizen Times reported in February that the university was facing a $6 million budget shortfall for the fiscal year, a deficit largely driven by enrollment declines at the small liberal arts college over the past several years.

The review is the second of its kind to take place in the UNC System this year. UNC Greensboro, also facing significant budget shortfalls, conducted a similar review that resulted in 20 academic programs being cut from the university’s offerings.

As part of the review at UNC Asheville, the university tasked First Tryon Advisors, a Charlotte financial consulting firm, with conducting an “academic program margin study” of the university’s current academic program offerings. The Asheville Watchdog reported Friday that the consultant had recommended 14 of the university’s 35 academic programs for further review — meaning the programs could have their course offerings reduced, or be eliminated.

So, which programs might be affected by van Noort’s proposal?

Welcome to Dean’s List, a roundup of higher education news in the Triangle and across North Carolina from The News & Observer and myself, Korie Dean.

This edition includes more information about the potential impacts of the portfolio review at UNC Asheville, a new interim chancellor at Elizabeth City State University and a new master’s program at UNC Pembroke.

Cuts expected to be announced at UNC Asheville

The Asheville Watchdog obtained a presentation First Tryon made to university leaders, which detailed, among other information, a list of “areas that warrant review” based on the consultant’s analysis of the cost and future sustainability of academic programs.

The presentation, published online by the Watchdog, listed these programs as being in “low demand” and/or “too expensive” to deliver degrees:

• Languages and literature

• Physics

• Mathematics

• Chemistry

The presentation listed these programs as having course offerings that “appear unsustainable:”

• Ancient Mediterranean studies

• Interdisciplinary studies

• Education

• Africana studies

(Degrees in education and Africana studies are not offered. The education department offers a licensure program for prospective teachers.)

The presentation listed these programs as both appearing unsustainable and being in low-demand:

• Drama

• Economics

• History

• Philosophy

• Religious studies

• Political science

In a campus message Thursday, van Noort described the presentation and First Tryon’s analysis as being “among several pieces of data informing the APR.” The Asheville Watchdog reported that van Noort would consider additional data and information, including graduation rates, faculty-to-student ratios and the number of majors in the programs, as she makes her recommendations for potential program cuts or other measures.

“Specifically, the proposal will involve a combination of actions, including faculty reductions in some academic departments to align with enrollment trends, a reduction in our collection of academic majors, and the elimination of select academic programs,” van Noort said in her message Thursday.

Van Noort’s proposal will be reviewed by faculty and presented to UNC System President Peter Hans and the Board of Governors for approval at the board’s July meeting. Van Noort said any tenured or tenure-track faculty affected by the cuts will be given six- to 12-months’ notice, while “other affected faculty will receive notice and/or severance in accordance with applicable UNC System policy.”

Students enrolled in affected programs will be able to finish their degrees.

“The University will help students in any affected programs to complete their studies with minimal disruption, in full compliance with accreditation standards,” van Noort said Thursday. “More than that, it’s simply the right thing to do.”

The portfolio review is one effort the university has made to rectify its budget shortfall by June 30, the end of the fiscal year. The university in April laid off 12 employees, with the chancellor’s office among the three university departments affected. Van Noort told the Citizen Times in February that she would limit university-employee travels to only trips that were “absolutely necessary,” and the Asheville Watchdog reported that most employee vacancies at the university would remain unfilled.

“There’s no question that this APR is difficult, and we all feel the weight of the process,” van Noort said Thursday. “But it is a necessary and overdue step as we keep the University focused, nimble, and sustainable. Regular reviews of operations — and strategic resource allocation to support the University mission — are foundational to our viability and long-range success.”

Interim chancellor named for ECSU

Following Karrie Dixon being named the next chancellor of NC Central University last week, Elizabeth City State University — where Dixon has been chancellor since 2018 — will have a new interim leader.

Catherine Edmonds, who has served as chief of staff at NC Central since 2022, will become interim chancellor at ECSU on July 1.

A career educator, Edmonds previously served as deputy state superintendent for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and superintendent of Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools and Bertie County Schools. She also served as director of the North Carolina Principal Fellows Program and worked for the UNC System as director of educational leadership and development from 2016 to 2018. She began her career as a high school teacher and was also a principal in Granville County Schools.

Edmonds is a first-generation college student and holds three degrees from the UNC System: a bachelor’s degree from NC A&T State University, and both a master’s and doctorate degree from NC State University. She also completed some of her graduate work at NC Central.

“Dr. Edmonds has spent her entire career building better schools for students, and she is very well suited to step into the role of interim chancellor at Elizabeth City State,” UNC System President Peter Hans said in a news release. “She has strong ties in northeastern North Carolina communities, where she has been deeply involved in the public schools. She has the talent and skill to continue ECSU’s strong momentum.”

A search for ECSU’s next permanent chancellor is expected to begin later this year.

Higher ed news I’m reading

• A handful of selective, elite colleges have found themselves under congressional scrutiny in recent months, particularly over campus antisemitism. But, Inside Higher Ed reports, those schools enroll only about 1% of the country’s college students and “are not reflective of higher education as a whole,” one expert said.
  
  

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That’s all for this roundup of North Carolina higher education news. I hope you’ll stay tuned for more.

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