Letter: Proposed academic changes for UWSP not good for the university
To the Editor:
UWSP’s proposed academic changes are not good for the university. While they say they will save money, in fact they are proposing the elimination of once popular academic programs which will, in fact, again be popular. In this chaotic era, majors in Foreign Languages, History, and Geography, e.g., are very needed. The programs scheduled for elimination are among the lowest cost programs offered by the institution and the proposals call for replacement with programs which, by their very nature, are much more expensive. So, the cost-savings part of the proposal is at best questionable.
Secondly, with a heavy emphasis on STEM programs, UWSP will be trying to compete with the good Technical Colleges (Wisconsin Rapids, Stevens Point, Wausau and others), as well as the well-established engineering programs offered by UW-Madison, Milwaukee, and Stout. ANY growth in student numbers at SP provided by those offerings will come at the expense of the Technical Colleges and the other UW campuses with engineering programs.
Any good regional university should maintain a strong core of arts, humanities, basic sciences, and social science programs. And, they should be contained within a college structure like that of SP’s current College of Letters and Sciences. If they are not protected by their own college, they will be slowly devoured by the colleges other than their own.
PLEASE, chancellor, vice chancellor, acting dean — slow this process down until you completely understand the full implications of this misguided proposal.
Justus F. Paul,
Professor Emeritus of History and retired Dean of the College of Letters and Science, UWSP
Words of wisdom.