University of Wisconsin campus pushes plan to drop 13 majors — including English, history and philosophy

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2018/03/21/university-of-wisconsin-campus-pushes-plan-to-drop-13-majors-including-english-history-and-philosophy/?utm_term=.3070365f1344

 

The University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point has proposed  dropping 13 majors in the humanities and social sciences — including English, philosophy, history, sociology and Spanish — while adding programs with “clear career pathways” as a way to address declining enrollment and a multimillion-dollar deficit.

Students and faculty members have reacted with surprise and concern to the news, which is being portrayed by the school’s administration as a path to regain enrollment and provide new opportunities to students. Critics see something else: a waning commitment to liberal arts education and a chance to lay off faculty under new rules that weakened tenure.

Students are planning a sit-in at the campus administration building on Wednesday in a demonstration called “Save Our Majors.” The Stevens Point Journal said students will then deliver a list of demands and requests to school officials. The school is one of 11 comprehensive campuses in the University of Wisconsin system.

The plan to cut the liberal arts and humanities majors (see full list below) is in line with a failed attempt by Republican Gov. Scott Walker in 2015 to secretly change the mission of the respected university system — known as the Wisconsin Idea and embedded in the state code  — by removing words that commanded the university to “search for truth” and “improve the human condition” and replacing them with “meet the state’s workforce needs.”

The push away from liberal arts and toward workplace skills is championed by conservatives who see many four-colleges and universities as politically correct institutions that graduate too many students without practical job skills — but with liberal political views.

[ How Gov. Walker tried to quietly change the mission of the University of Wisconsin ]

The administration at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point recently issued a statement detailing the plan, which still must be approved by a campus governance committee as well as the University of Wisconsin system’s chancellor and Board of Regents.

It said that the school faces a $4.5 million deficit over two days because declining enrollment has led to lower tuition revenues, and proposes adding or expanding 16 programs in areas “with high-demand career paths as a way to maintain and increase enrollment.” Last fall the school saw an enrollment decrease of 5.4 percent from the year before. That was on top of a 6.8 percent drop the previous year.

[TBoneTX 43,038]

The college graduate with a Science degree asks, "Why does it work?"

The graduate with an Engineering degree asks, "How does it work?"

The graduate with an Economics degree asks, "How much does it cost?"

The graduate with a Liberal Arts degree asks, "Would you like fries with that?"

[Dashinka 23,229]

4 hours ago, Il Mango Dulce said:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2018/03/21/university-of-wisconsin-campus-pushes-plan-to-drop-13-majors-including-english-history-and-philosophy/?utm_term=.3070365f1344

 

The University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point has proposed  dropping 13 majors in the humanities and social sciences — including English, philosophy, history, sociology and Spanish — while adding programs with “clear career pathways” as a way to address declining enrollment and a multimillion-dollar deficit.

Students and faculty members have reacted with surprise and concern to the news, which is being portrayed by the school’s administration as a path to regain enrollment and provide new opportunities to students. Critics see something else: a waning commitment to liberal arts education and a chance to lay off faculty under new rules that weakened tenure.

Students are planning a sit-in at the campus administration building on Wednesday in a demonstration called “Save Our Majors.” The Stevens Point Journal said students will then deliver a list of demands and requests to school officials. The school is one of 11 comprehensive campuses in the University of Wisconsin system.

The plan to cut the liberal arts and humanities majors (see full list below) is in line with a failed attempt by Republican Gov. Scott Walker in 2015 to secretly change the mission of the respected university system — known as the Wisconsin Idea and embedded in the state code  — by removing words that commanded the university to “search for truth” and “improve the human condition” and replacing them with “meet the state’s workforce needs.”

The push away from liberal arts and toward workplace skills is championed by conservatives who see many four-colleges and universities as politically correct institutions that graduate too many students without practical job skills — but with liberal political views.

[ How Gov. Walker tried to quietly change the mission of the University of Wisconsin ]

The administration at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point recently issued a statement detailing the plan, which still must be approved by a campus governance committee as well as the University of Wisconsin system’s chancellor and Board of Regents.

It said that the school faces a $4.5 million deficit over two days because declining enrollment has led to lower tuition revenues, and proposes adding or expanding 16 programs in areas “with high-demand career paths as a way to maintain and increase enrollment.” Last fall the school saw an enrollment decrease of 5.4 percent from the year before. That was on top of a 6.8 percent drop the previous year.

A $4.5 million dollar deficit over two days?  Which two days?

 

Regardless, why are the snowflakes protesting?  Are they concerned they won't be properly trained to work at Starbucks?

[yuna628 9,527]

Cutting English and history is a terrible idea. There's nothing wrong with adding in new programs, but those two are excellent foundations for teaching and a whole host of other career paths.

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

8 hours ago, yuna628 said:

Cutting English and history is a terrible idea. There's nothing wrong with adding in new programs, but those two are excellent foundations for teaching and a whole host of other career paths.

"The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history" Orwell

[Dashinka 23,229]

6 hours ago, Il Mango Dulce said:

"The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history" Orwell

Are they cutting history classes, or just the useless major of history that only forces folks to spend more money in college to get a useful Masters degree?

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

3 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

Are they cutting history classes, or just the useless major of history that only forces folks to spend more money in college to get a useful Masters degree?

Is this false dichotomy related to my statement?

[Dashinka 23,229]

11 minutes ago, Il Mango Dulce said:

Is this false dichotomy related to my statement?

Didn't you imply that UofW SP cutting of a history major would result as an lesser understanding of history through your quote of Orwell?  Btw, it really wasn't your statement unless your last name is Orwell.

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

35 minutes ago, Bill & Katya said:

Didn't you imply that UofW SP cutting of a history major would result as an lesser understanding of history through your quote of Orwell?  Btw, it really wasn't your statement unless your last name is Orwell.

If I implied anything, it was that George Orwell would agree with Yuna when she posted

'Cutting English and history is a terrible idea. There's nothing wrong with adding in new programs, but those two are excellent foundations for teaching and a whole host of other career paths.". 

 

[Dashinka 23,229]

1 minute ago, Il Mango Dulce said:

If I implied anything, it was that George Orwell would agree with Yuna when she posted

'Cutting English and history is a terrible idea. There's nothing wrong with adding in new programs, but those two are excellent foundations for teaching and a whole host of other career paths.". 

 

Not entirely correct as like I said earlier, are they cutting history or English classes?  Cutting a major is not the same as cutting the humanities out of college.  Besides, if UofW SP current History and English majors don't like it, I am sure they will find any number of schools willing to accept their money.  Not every school offers every major.

[bcking 3,157]

1 hour ago, Bill & Katya said:

Not entirely correct as like I said earlier, are they cutting history or English classes?  Cutting a major is not the same as cutting the humanities out of college.  Besides, if UofW SP current History and English majors don't like it, I am sure they will find any number of schools willing to accept their money.  Not every school offers every major.

The article talks about laying off teachers. If that is the case, they are likely cutting classes as well.

 

In general I think a liberal arts education is best when it is a combination of useful skills and learning for the sake of learning. I took history, literature, art, studied abroad on a music/art program and did premed at the same time. I wouldn't have done it differently. I also wouldn't have majored in Philosophy, Art History or History, though I enjoyed them all.

 

I think the bigger issue with universities is students going that really have no purpose to going. I think an English major is great for someone who is truly passionate about English and has ambitions, goals and desires in that field. However I also tended to see people majoring in Art, English etc... that had really no goals, no plans and they were just doing it because the list of requirements seemed easier to achieve. That isn't the fault of the major, it's the fault of the people choosing to study the major. I want our society to have great Historians, great teachers etc... But we don't need as many young people with college degrees that aren't planning on using them.

[Jacque67 7,328]

4 minutes ago, bcking said:

The article talks about laying off teachers. If that is the case, they are likely cutting classes as well.

 

In general I think a liberal arts education is best when it is a combination of useful skills and learning for the sake of learning. I took history, literature, art, studied abroad on a music/art program and did premed at the same time. I wouldn't have done it differently. I also wouldn't have majored in Philosophy, Art History or History, though I enjoyed them all.

 

I think the bigger issue with universities is students going that really have no purpose to going. I think an English major is great for someone who is truly passionate about English and has ambitions, goals and desires in that field. However I also tended to see people majoring in Art, English etc... that had really no goals, no plans and they were just doing it because the list of requirements seemed easier to achieve. That isn't the fault of the major, it's the fault of the people choosing to study the major. I want our society to have great Historians, great teachers etc... But we don't need as many young people with college degrees that aren't planning on using them.

I have friends who have medical degrees but don't use them. They went on to study other subjects. Only enrol people who intend to use their degree for practical purposes?

[bcking 3,157]

6 minutes ago, Jacque67 said:

I have friends who have medical degrees but don't use them. They went on to study other subjects. Only enrol people who intend to use their degree for practical purposes?

There will always be some number of people who "change their mind" and that's okay. Medicine for example isn't for everyone, though the people I know who don't practice Medicine but have an MD tend to do things that are at least related. I know a couple of people who went to law school afterwards and now work in malpractice. I know several people who work for pharmaceuticals, or consulting with BCG or McKinsey, or MD/PhD's that ended up just doing benchwork. I also know a couple of people who work in tech but with a medical slant (low cost devices for the 3rd world) or who work in non-profits but also with a medical slant. I don't know anyone who did a complete 180 to something else, but I'm sure it does happen.

 

I think it's one thing to genuinely think you are going to follow a career path, find out you are unhappy, and change direction. That's fine. But I also don't think that describes the large number of college graduates with liberal arts majors that, when asked, don't have any clear idea of what they actually want to do with their life. If they say "I want to be an English teacher" and then find out later they hate it, then by all means they should pursue their true dream.

[Dashinka 23,229]

13 minutes ago, bcking said:

The article talks about laying off teachers. If that is the case, they are likely cutting classes as well.

 

In general I think a liberal arts education is best when it is a combination of useful skills and learning for the sake of learning. I took history, literature, art, studied abroad on a music/art program and did premed at the same time. I wouldn't have done it differently. I also wouldn't have majored in Philosophy, Art History or History, though I enjoyed them all.

 

I think the bigger issue with universities is students going that really have no purpose to going. I think an English major is great for someone who is truly passionate about English and has ambitions, goals and desires in that field. However I also tended to see people majoring in Art, English etc... that had really no goals, no plans and they were just doing it because the list of requirements seemed easier to achieve. That isn't the fault of the major, it's the fault of the people choosing to study the major. I want our society to have great Historians, great teachers etc... But we don't need as many young people with college degrees that aren't planning on using them.

The article didn't go into enough detail to know if they plan to axe every liberal arts class.  I made an assumption that any college (not trade school) offering primarily technical majors will still have to offer at least a few liberal art classes.

[Jacque67 7,328]

5 minutes ago, bcking said:

There will always be some number of people who "change their mind" and that's okay. Medicine for example isn't for everyone, though the people I know who don't practice Medicine but have an MD tend to do things that are at least related. I know a couple of people who went to law school afterwards and now work in malpractice. I know several people who work for pharmaceuticals, or consulting with BCG or McKinsey, or MD/PhD's that ended up just doing benchwork. I also know a couple of people who work in tech but with a medical slant (low cost devices for the 3rd world) or who work in non-profits but also with a medical slant. I don't know anyone who did a complete 180 to something else, but I'm sure it does happen.

 

I think it's one thing to genuinely think you are going to follow a career path, find out you are unhappy, and change direction. That's fine. But I also don't think that describes the large number of college graduates with liberal arts majors that, when asked, don't have any clear idea of what they actually want to do with their life. If they say "I want to be an English teacher" and then find out later they hate it, then by all means they should pursue their true dream.

Well mine have gone into completely different fields. It was just on the bucket list. To deny the enrichment of the mind based on career plans seems sad.