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FAQs Related to Enrollment, Budget and Resource Allocation Decisions

On April 14, 2022, UNC President Andy Feinstein shared a message 与大学社区一起回应了一些问题和担忧 在皇冠app官方版下载宣布关闭三个本科语言课程后,又出现了什么问题 and the decision to not renew some faculty positions. The following are answers to some frequently asked questions relating to these decisions. Laura Connolley, Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS), also shared a message 与HSS学生,教师和工作人员在2022年4月13日提供额外的透明度 around the decisions within her college.


  • If UNC is in a good financial position, why are we seeing changes to programs? 

    感谢UNC员工在过去三年中所做的辛勤工作以及 从一次性联邦COVID救济资金中获得的现金注入,UNC的现金最充足 position it has been in for a number of years. While we are currently in a good cash 立场上,我们必须继续积极管理我们围绕预算的努力,使之有序 to sustain this position. This means that we must regularly examine our full academic 确保我们在新项目和现有项目上进行投资 student demand 有时,要做出暂停或终止低入学率项目的艰难决定. Such changes can be difficult, particularly when they directly affect faculty who are known and trusted by our students. As a public university, we have the responsibility 确保我们的资源分配,以满足学生的需求,并保持学术 quality. 

    即使在金融形势最好的时候,我们也有责任注意到 investments we make using taxpayer and tuition dollars. 在过去三年中,包括在COVID-19大流行期间,皇冠app官方版下载经历了 本科生入学人数大幅下降,大约减少了29% undergraduate students. These changes give yet another reason that we must continue 审查我们的学术课程,以确保我们提供的课程能够吸引学生 and help retain students while contributing to their success. 

  • How is UNC investing in the overall student academic experience? 

    皇冠app官方版下载评估我们的学术课程,以确保我们能够满足学生的需求 为了继续满足劳动力需求,我们必须始终寻求创新的机会 while also using existing resources to meet our students’ needs. We will continue 以确保我们是管理我们的资源明智地建立时间表,以满足学生 demand and shifting resources to where they are needed at the institution. S这种资源的转移使得皇冠app官方版下载能够提供学生毕业所需的课程 across the entire institution. As such, we continue to hire new faculty in areas of 高需求的同时追求机会,振兴现有的项目和创造 new, innovative programs in service to the needs of the region and the state.  

  • Which academic programs has UNC recently eliminated and why? 

    UNC announced the closure of 2022年2月的三个语言文学学士课程-欧洲语言和文化, French, and German. These programs all have had longstanding issues with single-digit enrollments, leading to concerns about program quality and program viability. Those small numbers do not provide the high-quality educational experience that our students deserve. Faculty in these programs were in conversation with college and university leadership over a number of years before this decision was reached.  

  • Do these program closures take effect immediately? 

    When a program is closed, the process takes place slowly. It begins with no new students being admitted into the program. Students already in the programs continue to have the opportunity to progress towards graduation. 我们坚定地致力于确保皇冠app官方版下载的所有学生都能继续拥有 有机会获得四年后毕业所需的课程,并有机会进入 to the student support services they need to be successful. These are key tenets to being a Students First university. 

  • 已经注册这些课程的学生是否需要换专业或转学? 

    所有的学生都有机会继续主修这些课程 is known as a teach out plan. UNC is working with the eight students currently enrolled 在这三个方案中制定个性化的计划,以确保他们有一个明确的 and timely path to graduation.   

  • Will additional programs be cut? 

    There are no plans to cut additional programs at this time. However, in the longer 学期,皇冠app官方版下载必须继续审查低入学率的项目,以确定是否存在 is a need to make additional changes to academic offerings. 

  • How do we make decisions about program closures at UNC? 

    作为我们在皇冠app官方版下载各院系、学校和学院开展的工作的一部分, faculty assess enrollments, course schedules, and overall program health. Sometimes 学院决定暂停皇冠app官方版下载或取消他们的项目,这 request is made subsequently to the dean and the provost. This process enables us 集体和协作地思考项目关闭的影响,如 以及我们可以支持教师提供高质量学术的方式 programs across the institution. This is the most common pathway towards decisions about program suspension or elimination. In some cases, the program review process (大约每5年举行一次)也为评估提供了途径 程序的生存能力,有时导致暂停或取消一个程序. 而且,在少数情况下,教师和院长之间也会进行对话 一段较长的时间,直到做出推荐的决定(通常是院长级别) 由于缺乏长期生存能力而中止一个项目 program quality. 

  • Are there external factors impacting enrollments in these programs? 

    There are numerous factors impacting enrollments at UNC. First-time undergraduate students come to college with more and more credits every year. This is due to factors 在科罗拉多州,包括:(1)增加了双重和并行的产品 enrollment for high school students; (2) the wide availability of community college offerings; and (3) pandemic-related shifts in college attendance. Moreover, the state revised the Guaranteed Transfer Pathways, res导致可转移通识教育课程减少到31个单元 across all institutions in the state. Effective fall 2021, UNC faculty chose to align our curriculum with the state changes, reducing the university’s liberal arts curriculum from 40 to 31 units. 

    Compounded by these external factors and the overall decline of students choosing 皇冠app官方版下载人文社会科学学院的文科专业 has experienced a steep decline in enrollment over the past few years. To a significant 在某种程度上,这种趋势是由上述因素驱动的:更多的通识教育 (LAC) units taken by students before they arrive at UNC. Plus, the National Student Clearinghouse的数据和IPEDS的数据都表明,文科的人数在稳步下降 over the past decade. This is a national phenomenon尽管有强大的课程设置和令人难以置信的敬业和有成就的教师 in these disciplines, UNC is not immune to such trends.

  • Why was the decision made to not renew some faculty positions? 

    皇冠app官方版下载为拥有高技能和合格的终身教职员工而感到自豪, and contract renewable (i.e., full-time, one-year contract) ranks. This spring, the decision was made to non-renew a tenure-track faculty member in World Languages. This 这一决定是根据执行局的政策作出的,并与关闭相一致 of language programs in which the faculty member teaches.  

    皇冠app安卓下载安装续签合同(CR)教师:在大多数情况下,他们的主要责任 是在我们有课程需求但没有终身教职或终身教职的领域任教 教职员工的专业知识,或者我们的终身教职或终身教职员工没有足够的专业知识 available teaching load to teach the courses our students need to graduate. As demand 对于特定课程的减少,就像最近一样,大学对学生的需求也减少了 合同可更新的教师,因为终身教职和终身教职的教师接受教学 assignments first. Recent decisions not to renew contract renewable positions were made 当可以获得终身教职和终身教职的教师拥有专业知识和足够的资源时 teaching load available to meet course demands. 

  • What is happening with faculty position in Chicano/a & Latinx Studies? 

    The university is working with Chicano/a & Latinx Studies to ensure that staffing needs are met given the impending retirement of a senior faculty member. The Provost 已经明确承诺支持部门的需求,她和迪恩 Connolly have approved a search for a replacement hire.