A proposal by Henderson State University administrators to phase out 25 degree programs — including in English, mathematics and biology — as part of a cost cutting plan will be considered Thursday by the Arkansas State University System board of trustees.
The plan released today along with a letter from HSU Chancellor Chuck Ambrose calls for greater cuts than the recommendations put forward by a financial exigency committee appointed by the university's faculty senate.
Some faculty members at the Arkadelphia campus today also received phone calls about pending position cuts, said James Engman, president of the university's faculty senate.
The university's top leaders in February agreed to declare a state of financial exigency and consider program reductions, including of tenured faculty, with Ambrose describing a projected budget shortfall and unsustainable finances. Actions already at the Arkadelphia campus include one-day-per-week furloughs affecting staff, faculty and administrative positions.
The administration's proposal states that while degree programs would be phased out, those academic subjects would "continue to be incorporated through the general education and interdisciplinary studies curriculum to enhance outcomes for all students."
Ambrose, in his written message Monday to campus, stated that the university, which enrolled 2,919 students last fall, "cannot grow our way out of this challenge without implementing significant academic restructuring."
The administration's plan calls for cuts to 88 faculty positions, including 56 tenured positions, for projected savings over two years of $5.3 million. Information on the university's website posted today states that 67 of the positions are currently filled.
Current students as well as new freshmen arriving this fall would be "supported" in completing their degrees if enrolled in any of the programs being phased out, according to the administration's plan.
Separate recommendations put forward by a committee that included faculty called for 12 program eliminations and about 32 faculty positions eliminated for a projected savings of about $3.7 million.
Jeff Hankins, a spokesman for the ASU System, said faculty were notified today if they would be impacted by the cuts.
"We wanted to be as transparent as possible with those possibly affected and share the news ourselves before they heard elsewhere," Hankins said in an email.