MILWAUKEE — UW-Milwaukee Chancellor Mark Mone proposed the discontinuation of the University’s College of General Studies in a letter to Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman. The proposal would effectively close three academic departments and result in the unemployment of dozens of professors, including tenured educators.
The three academic departments in flux include Arts & Humanities, Math & Natural Sciences and Social Sciences & Business. They were introduced to the UW-Milwaukee network in 2018 as part of a merger with two-year programs in Waukesha and Washington County.
With those campuses now set to close, Chancellor Mone’s recommendation to discontinue the College of General Studies is based on declining enrollment rates and associated costs. However, it’s estimated that more than 30 tenured faculty members would be laid off as a result of the closure.
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“There has been a precipitous decline (57.7%) in enrollments at the two campuses since the 2018 merger, which indicates little student and market demand as well as poor prospects for continued and future enrollments,” Chancellor Mone said. “Because of the significant drop in enrollments, CGS’s main program offering, the liberal arts associate degree, is no longer cost-effective when compared to the main campus bachelor’s program.”
Chancellor Mone said the proposal has been supported through a designated faculty review committee but was not approved by the Faculty Senate, leading him to forward the proposal directly to Chancellor Rothman.
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As part of the discontinuance proposal process, this proposal was shared with all College of General Studies faculty. Based on several rounds of feedback and reporting, the following five key concerns were raised:
- The College of General Studies is not a “program” under RPD 20-24 and, thus, cannot be closed through this process.
- UWM did not sufficiently consider all feasible alternatives to faculty layoff, such as absorbing the CGS faculty into main campus academic departments.
- CGS’s budgetary issues are not sufficiently severe to necessitate CGS’s closure.
- UWM’s preservation of the First Year Bridge and Flex AAS programs suggests that CGS faculty should be retained to work in the programs.
- UWM did not adequately address faculty layoff rights.
Chancellor Mone addressed each of those concerns in his letter to President Rothman, which can be viewed in your browser below, or you can click here to view it in a separate tab.
This is a developing story. An update and/or follow-up may be issued if further details are revealed.
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