photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

University of Kansas Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer discusses KU's 10-year master plan with the Kansas Board of Regents on Sept. 18, 2024.

KU leaders are considering mergers of more than a dozen enrollment-challenged academic programs in hopes of finding administrative savings.

The Kansas Board of Regents is scheduled to hear an update on the early-stage process at its Wednesday meeting, but won’t approve any mergers. Rather, University of Kansas officials are still contemplating what mergers they want to pursue, and gathering feedback from stakeholders.

“They are in review with department faculty, and then moving to University Senate, as appropriate,” Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer told a sub committee of the Regents earlier this month.

But KU leaders do have some ideas about what they want to do with about a dozen programs that are failing to meet key metrics related to number of degrees granted, number of students enrolled, average wages upon graduation, and other such measures.

Bichelmeyer told the Regent’s Academic Affairs Committee that KU is considering four clusters of mergers. They are:

• Create a new School of Earth, Energy & Environment that would combine the current academic programs of Environmental Studies, Geography & Atmospheric Science, and Geology.

The new school would be housed in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and would have a single director who reported to the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Eliminating multiple department chairs or program directors is one way that consolidating academic programs could produce cost savings, Bichelmeyer said.

But such consolidations can be controversial because they sometimes involve elimination of some majors, and require students to shift to a slightly different academic program. Bichelmeyer said KU is not currently proposing those type of changes.

“To be clear, we are not changing majors,” Bichelmeyer said. “We are changing administrative functions.”

For example, a student in the new school would not be required to get a general degree in Earth, Energy & Environment, but rather could get a degree in Geology, if they so chose.

• Create a new Department of Romance Languages that would combine the current programs of French, Francophone & Italian Studies with the Spanish and Portuguese department. Bichelmeyer said students would still be able to major in specific languages rather than receiving a general degree in Romance Languages, for example. She said faculty member had stressed the importance of maintaining such a system because people who want to work as translators, for instance, often are expected to have a degree in the specific language.

There are other foreign language programs that might benefit from a merger, but Bichelmeyer said KU isn’t yet proposing to do so with those departments. They include: East Asian Languages & Cultures; Slavic, German & Eurasian Studies; and the Classics Department. While not currently proposed for a merger, those departments could be the subject of future reorganization, depending on what KU learns if it creates the new Department of Romance Languages.

• Create a new Global Cultures program that would merge Jewish Studies, Religious Studies and Global & International Studies.

Bichelmeyer said a merger involving African & African American Studies and American Studies is also being contemplated but is not as far along in the process.

• Merging the masters and doctorate degrees in Environmental Water Resources Science with the master and doctorate degrees in Environmental Water Resources Engineering.

KU is proposing to discontinue one major: A Masters of Science in Education in the field of Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education. KU leaders originally had resisted discontinuing the program, and instead were working to implement a plan to increase enrollment and degree completion. But upon further review, discontinuing the major is now considered the best option. KU expects to present the plan for discontinuation to faculty and university senate groups in the fall to gather additional feedback, Bichelmeyer said. If the program is discontinued, KU would implement a “teach-out plan” to ensure that classes are continued to be offered so that existing students can complete their degrees.

Several other degree programs are not meeting current metrics that the Regents have deemed important. Those programs remain under review, but aren’t yet proposed for merger or discontinuation. Among the programs under review are: various undergraduate degrees in music; undergraduate degrees in astronomy; and a master’s degree in film and media studies.

All of the programs were placed under review about 18 months ago after they were found to be below key benchmarks in at least two categories that the Regents have identified as being important. Those benchmarks generally are tied to number of students seeking the degree, number of student completing the degree, the demand in the Kansas workforce for the degree, and the average wages that degree holders are likely to earn.

At their Wednesday meeting, the Regents aren’t scheduled to take any specific actions on the degree programs, but rather asked KU to provide an update on how the university was addressing the underperforming programs.

The Regents have directed all public universities across the state to look at their degree programs and consider if all of them are still warranted.