A Year After UWS Program Cuts, Students and Faculty Still Speaking Out

25 Academic Programs were suspended on October 31, 2017

SUPERIOR, Wis. – It’s now been a year since UW-Superior suspended twenty-five academic programs.

On the anniversary of those cuts, students and faculty are still speaking out against them.

For the past year, UWS students have demonstrated to get the nine undergraduate majors, one graduate degree, and fifteen undergraduate minors reinstated at the school.

“There’s still people in the community that still remember, still care, and we’re still talking about it to this day,” said Aimee Peterson, organizer of Wednesday’s demonstration.

Students protested outside the Superior Public Library on the anniversary of the significant cuts made to academic programs at UWS.

The students say the effects of those cuts and the way they were handled by administration are still impacting many on campus.

“I’ve watched so many professors now walk out, I’ve seen professors cry and I’m watching a professor almost ready to leave,” said Peterson.

Communicating Arts Professor Cathy Fank supervises the theatre program, one of the majors cut a year ago.

“Well, it’s been a hard year. Probably one of the hardest years in my professional career,” said Fank.

She is trying to focus on the ten current theatre majors, and twelve to fifteen minors in the program.

She tells us enrollment in the Communicating Arts Department has been down.

“People who were thinking of coming here in theatre have decided either to not come here in theatre or are perhaps going to major in something else and take part in theatre,” said Fank.

When asked to comment on how the cuts have affected the campus, university administration sent us only a short statement that said:

“We look to the future with optimism, as UW-Superior faculty across disciplines are currently collaborating to identify academic offerings that will best serve current and future students.”

According to Cathy Fank, she and her colleagues are looking at ways to realign their department to include coursework from suspended majors like theatre and journalism in current program offerings.

“We are trying to preserve the good things that university theatre and the good things that university video and media have done in the past and preserve that and move it forward into a new curriculum,” said Fank.

Once they do that, she says they can more effectively recruit students and grow the university that she remains positive about.

“There’s so much good about UWS. It is a small school and it’s got a good price tag for the current student and teachers are awesome at this school,” said Fank.

The twenty-five academic programs are technically suspended and not cut, meaning they could be reinstated. So far, administration has expressed no interest in reinstating any of the programs.