Photo by Emma Pile
June 15, 2019, the Elizabethtown College community received an email referring to changes to the College’s academic programs. It was announced by former President Carl Strikwerda that the College would be realigning some of the majors and minors, specifically the theatre and philosophy majors and the theatre, peace and conflict studies and film studies minors, due to revisions that had to be made to the 2019-20 operating budget.
Along with these majors and minors, the Social Enterprise Institute (SEI) and the Center for Global Understanding and Peacemaking (CGUP) are also being reorganized. The groups that were immediately affected, such as students and faculty within these departments, were notified Thursday, June 13.
This realignment will not lead to the destruction of the programs. There will still be courses in the departments, such as philosophy, that will continue despite the lack of a major and minor. Director of Communications Keri Straub says the realignment will allow the College to reallocate its financial resources in a way that will provide opportunities for cost-saving. This was identified by the Board of Trustees, Strikwerda, senior staff and representative members of the faculty and staff.
As has been the case with many colleges in the nation, enrollment at the College has declined in recent years. Straub said current enrollment, the capacity for growth, market demand and the cost to administer each program were reviewed and the programs were assessed for the long-term viability and overall best interest of the College.
According to senior Student Senate President Holly Francescone, when the next fiscal year’s budget was shown to the Board of Trustees, it showed that enrollment numbers did not hit what were necessary for the budget plans to succeed, so the College had to examine enrollment and future market reach for departments to determine what could be cut back.
“The academic and operational realignment occurred so the College remains relevant for the rapidly-evolving higher education marketplace,” Straub said. The realignment was an effort to attain long-term sustainability for the College so that the community can continue to grow.
There have been multiple forums for student representation since this announcement has been made, one that took place July 12 which was organized by a student advocacy group and the other, Aug. 28, which was organized by Student Senate. Both forums included Vice President for Student Life Dr. Celestino Limas and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty Dr. Betty Rider. Limas said of the August restructuring forum that it was thorough and included good conversation, and these forums have been giving students a voice so that they can feel represented and can advocate for what they believe in.
Limas and Rider also mentioned the creation of a taskforce, led by Dean for Academic Affairs and Faculty Development Dr. Kristi Kneas. This taskforce will be filled by both faculty and students who were affected by the realignment and will be very future oriented. One of the biggest questions that students had at the August forum that will be answered by this taskforce is what will happen to the theatre department. Anyone that may be interested in joining the taskforce or getting further information can contact Limas or Kneas directly at limasc@etown.edu and kneas@etown.edu, respectively.
As senior peace and conflict studies minor Rachel Craft said, a lack of immediate answers was off-putting to many attendees of the forums. She said she does not believe that the forums, which were majorly students who were heavily affected by the realignment, fully represented the entire student body’s thoughts on the changes.
Francescone also noted that many of the people who were at the forum were frustrated at the lack of immediate answers to questions, and pointed out that students are able to join the taskforce to help figure out what the answers should be.
Craft said that she and the other minors had received an email saying that since they declared the minor already, there would be a specialized plan made so that each student could still graduate with the minor. However, Craft said that she and the other minors have not seen or heard any further information about such plans.
While there are still unanswered questions regarding the future of the programs that are being reorganized, the College has been adding more high-demand majors and programs than any time before, as Straub said. The additions of the physician’s assistant program, music education Master’s degree, changes in both the engineering and communications departments, and the new marketing, finance, criminal justice and data analytics majors will bring fresh opportunities to the College community.
