常见问题 Related to Enrollment, Budget and Resource Allocation Decisions

On April 14, 2022, UNC President Andy Feinstein 分享消息 with the university community in response to some of the questions and concerns that have arisen after UNC 宣布 秘密地保证的 three undergraduate language programs and the decision to not renew some faculty positions. 的 following are answers to some frequently asked questions relating to these decisions. 劳拉·康诺利，院长 of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS), also 分享消息 with HSS students, faculty, and staff on April 13, 2022 providing additional transparency around the decisions within her college.

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• If UNC is in a good financial position, why are we seeing changes to programs? 

  Thanks to the hard work done by UNC employees over the past three years and to the cash infusion from one-time federal COVID relief funds, UNC is in the strongest cash position it has been in for 许多的 years. While we are currently in a good cash position, we must continue to actively manage our efforts around the budget in order 为了维持这个位置. 这 means that we must regularly examine our full academic portfolio to ensure we are investing in new programs and existing programs that have 学生的需求 and, at times, make the hard decision to suspend or discontinue low-enrolled programs. Such changes can be difficult, particularly when they directly affect faculty who are known and trusted by our students. As a public university, we have the responsibility to ensure that we allocate our resources to meet 学生的需求 and maintain academic 质量. 

  Even in the best of financial times, we have the responsibility to be mindful of the investments we make using taxpayer and tuition dollars. Over the last three years, including those during the COVID-19 pandemic, UNC has experienced a significant decline in undergraduate enrollment that amounts to roughly 29% fewer 本科生. 的se changes give yet another reason that we must continue to review our academic offerings to be sure we are providing programs that attract and help retain students while contributing to their success. 

• How is UNC investing in the overall student academic experience? 

  As UNC assesses our academic offerings to ensure we are responding to 学生的需求 and continuing to meet workforce needs, we must always seek opportunities for innovation while also using existing resources to meet our students’ needs. 我们将继续 to ensure we are stewarding our resources wisely by building schedules to meet student demand and shifting resources to where they are needed at the institution. Such shifting of resources enables UNC to offer classes that students need to graduate across the entire institution. As such, we continue to hire new faculty in areas of high demand while pursuing opportunities to revitalize existing programs and create new, innovative programs in service to the needs of the region and the state.  

• Which academic programs has UNC recently eliminated and why? 

  UNC 宣布 秘密地保证的 three of our Language BA programs in February 2022 — European Languages and Cultures, 法国, 和德国. 的se programs all have had longstanding issues with single-digit enrollments, leading to concerns about 项目质量 and program viability. 这些小数字 do not provide the high-质量 educational experience that our students deserve. 这些项目的教员 是 in conversation with college and university leadership over 许多的 几年前 这德决定达成了.  

• Do these program 秘密地ures take effect immediately? 

  When a program is 秘密地ed, the process takes place slowly. It begins with no new students being admitted into the program. Students already in the programs continue to have the opportunity to progress towards graduation. We are deeply committed to ensuring that all students at UNC will continue to have the opportunity to get the classes they need to graduate in four years and have access to the student support services they need to be successful. 这些是……的关键原则 being a Students First university. 

• Will the students already enrolled in those programs need to change majors or transfer? 

  All students are given the opportunity to continue majoring in these programs on what is known as a teach out plan. UNC is working with the eight students currently enrolled in these three programs to create individualized plans to ensure they have a clear and timely path to graduation.   

• Will additional programs be cut? 

  的re are no plans to cut additional programs at this time. 然而，在更长时间里 term, UNC must continue to review programs with low enrollments to determine if there is a need to make additional changes to academic offerings. 

• How do we make decisions about program 秘密地ures at UNC? 

  As an ongoing part of the work we do at UNC within departments, schools, and colleges, faculty assess enrollments, course schedules, and overall program health. 有时 faculty make the decision to suspend admissions or sunset their program, and this request is made subsequently to the dean and the provost. 这个过程使我们 to think collectively and collaboratively about the impacts of program 秘密地ures, as well as the ways in which we can support faculty to deliver high-质量 academic programs across the institution. 这 is the most common pathway towards decisions about program suspension or elimination. In some cases, the program review process (which occurs approximately every 5 years) also provides a pathway towards the assessment of program viability, sometimes resulting in the suspension or elimination of a program. And, in a small number of cases, conversations occur among faculty and deans over a longer period until a decision is made (usually at the level of the dean) to recommend discontinuation of a program due to lack of long-term viability and concerns about 项目质量. 

• Are there external factors impacting enrollments in these programs? 

  的re are numerous factors impacting enrollments at UNC. 首次本科 students come to college with more and more credits every year. 这是由于各种因素 in the state of Colorado that include: (1) the increased offerings of dual and concurrent enrollment for high school students; (2) the wide availability of community college offerings; and (3) pandemic-related shifts in college attendance. 此外，国家 修订了 Guaranteed 转移 Pathways, resulting in a reduction to 31 units for the transferable general education curriculum across all institutions in the state. Effective fall 2021, UNC faculty chose to align our curriculum with the state changes, reducing the university’s 文科课程 从40到31个单位. 

  Compounded by these external factors and the overall decline of students choosing to major in the liberal arts nationally, UNC’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences has experienced a steep decline in enrollment over the past few years. 对一个重要的 extent, this trend is driven by the factors mentioned above: more general education (LAC) units taken by students before they arrive at UNC. 另外，国家学生 Clearinghouse Data and IPEDS data alike point to a steady decline in the liberal arts 在过去十年中. 这是一个 国家的现象, and despite strong program offerings and incredibly committed and accomplished faculty in these disciplines, UNC is not immune to such trends.

• Why was the decision made to not renew some faculty positions? 

  UNC is proud to have highly skilled and qualified faculty in our tenure-track, tenured, 合同可续期(i.e., full-time, one-year contract) ranks. 今年春天， decision was made to non-renew a tenure-track faculty member in World Languages. 这 decision was made in compliance with Board policy and in concert with the 秘密地ure of language programs in which the faculty member teaches.  

  Regarding contract renewable (CR) faculty: in most cases, their primary responsibility is to teach in areas where we have demand for classes but do not have tenured or tenure-track faculty expertise, or where our tenured or tenure-track faculty do not have sufficient available teaching load to teach the courses our students need to graduate. 随着需求 for specific courses decreases, as it has recently, the university has less need for contract renewable faculty because tenured and tenure-track faculty receive teaching 作业第一. Recent decisions not to renew contract renewable positions 是 made when available tenured and tenure-track faculty had the expertise and sufficient available teaching load available to meet course demands. 

• What is happening with faculty position in Chicano/a & Latinx研究? 

  的 university is working with Chicano/a & Latinx研究 to ensure that staffing needs are met given the impending retirement of a senior faculty member. 的 教务长 has made an explicit commitment to support the department’s needs and she and Dean 康诺利 have approved a search for a replacement hire.