The university said in a statement to faculty Friday that graduate academic affairs has recommended discontinuing or consolidating some graduate programs. Those recommendations include 20 master’s programs with an average of four or fewer students, and three doctoral programs with an average of fewer than one student.
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“Ultimately, we hope that the various faculties will choose to bring these and other graduate programs forward for suspension so that we can make the appropriate budget improvements while also further investing in the quality of our core mission: transformational undergraduate education,” the university said in a statement.
The university has been planning to reduce its student headcount by about 10% to 15% and its workforce by a similar amount. UD, one of Dayton’s larger employers, has about 11,000 students overall and 3,700 employees.
UD cited smaller high school graduating classes and more competition for a smaller group of students as the reasons for the cuts.
University President Eric Spina published an opinion piece earlier this year outlining some of the “strategic changes” the university will be making as it looks at a declining student population.
“We are adapting to a dramatically changed higher education environment and are investing in even stronger student support as we intentionally become a modestly smaller institution,” university officials said in a statement Friday.
During a staff meeting Friday, UD also shared detailed budget information for the past fiscal year, the current year, and early assumptions for the next fiscal year. A new budget education and advisory group, a response to a request from the faculty for more involvement and understanding in the budget process, was introduced.
In a statement to media, UD stressed it is not running a deficit and has an A2 rating from Moody’s, a high credit rating among universities.
UD joins Wright State University and Wittenberg University as local universities that have cut faculty and staff in recent years due to the changing environment of higher education.
Staff writer Cornelius Frolik contributed to this story.
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