The University of Providence has proposed closing down 19 different academic programs this month, citing financial pressures and current marketplace realities.
The plan, which suggests ending 12 majors, 6 minors, and 1 graduate program, will be heard and decided on by the University’s Board of Trustees on February 14. If passed, the financial savings from those programs will be redirected toward other state-of-the-art athletic and academic programs.
The programs that may no longer be offered are accounting (including the graduate program), art, elementary education, secondary education, special education, health, and physical education, english, history, sociology, theater and business arts, and theology.
“We are sensitive to the pain that these decisions will have on various members of our university community, their families and the wider community,” University of Providence president Tony Aretz said.
“We will find ways to honor their legacy and express our deep gratitude for their dedicated service and professionalism. We promise whatever assistance the university community can provide to accompany those directly affected by these decisions as they discern their future.”
The proposal follows a two-year review and university-wide analysis by Stevens Strategies. However, students who are currently enrolled in the endangered programs will be able to complete their degrees as faculty have been asked to design teach-out plans.
The university also said faculty impacted by the proposed program closures will continue to teach at the university at least through the first year of the teach-out plan. When the year concludes, the university will reassess its staffing levels moving forward.
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