The Woods

By Emma Campbell

Staff Writer

Interim President Dottie King said the College’s decision to cut four majors and combine other majors was driven by the need to “live within our means.”

King said the criteria for deciding what programs would be kept or cut focused on “centrality to the College’s mission”, the ability for programs to be “delivered with distinction”, enrollment in programs, retention in the programs, and the cost effectiveness of the programs.

The purpose, says King, was to hone the College’s marketing and to focus on programs that are growing and in need of more resources; not to save the college money.

“They cuts will not save money; that is not their purpose.”

In the last two years students have seen about a 7% tuition increase. In order to keep the tuition costs lower and increase faculty salaries the College plans to use a “reallocation of resources”.

King says this plan will redistribute resources to programs with growing interest and effectiveness that have been lacking in resources in the past.

King says that in the past, the faculty has been asked to create new programs in order to attract students. There were varying degrees of success in these programs, but when a program did not show to be effective, the College failed to eliminate the program immediately.

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College has around 310 on campus students and 37 academic majors before the cuts.

Kings says these numbers create a disparity in faculty workloads.

When asked about whether or not any faculty positions would be eliminated with program cuts, King declined to comment, but reinforced the “reallocation of resources” idea.

Executive Director of College Relations Dee Reed has been monitoring popular social networking site Facebook to read the comments and questions students and alumnae have been posting.

Many students have taken to Facebook to show their displeasure and aggravation at the program cuts.

A product of this aggravation is the new Facebook group “Save St. Mary-of-the-Woods Music and Theatre.” This group, created on Feb. 3 has already gained 671 members.

On this site students and alumnae voice their concerns about what the cuts may mean to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.

King, who has not been on Facebook herself, says that she does not want students to stop voicing their opinions.

She said, “Woods women are exactly who we want them to be. They have opinions and are not afraid to voice them.”

She does remind students that once you put something out on the internet, you can never take it back.

Also, she said “Some students overstepped a line of professionalism in regard to certain comments.”

When asked if students, faculty, and staff could expect another town hall meeting in which they could ask questions of the committee, King said it way highly unlikely.

King does remain open for answering any questions that the college community may have.

She says, “Sometimes negative decisions are made for positive reasons.”

“A great deal of thought went into these decisions, and I believe these changes will benefit Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College in the long run.”

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The following press release was sent at noon to the students and faculty of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. Keep checking The Woods website this weekend for updates as we post them.

‘Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College refocuses academic core’

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College announces a refocus of its academic programs to ensure the relevance of the College’s curricula, identify new opportunities for innovation and enhance the distinction of its academic programs. By strengthening its academic core, SMWC reaffirms the importance of its academic mission to the future vitality and success of the institution.

The refocus of the College’s academic mission has led to the difficult decision to phase out several programs. The decision was finalized after an extensive review process with regard to ensuring resources are directed to programs that are sustainable, efficient and meet long-term strategic goals.

“This has been a challenging and thoughtful process,” said Dottie King, Ph.D., interim president of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College. “Yet, we have the opportunity to enhance the academic identity and reputation of our College, to expand outreach and to provide a more engaged experience for our students.”

The undergraduate academic changes are as follows:

Combining Majors

·      Art and Graphic Design

·      English and Creative Writing

·      Journalism, Digital Media, Professional Writing, and

·      Marketing and Advertising.

Program elimination

·      Criminal Justice

·      History/Social Science

·      Instrumental Music major, and

·      Theatre (major and minor).

Maintenance of instrumental offerings will be facilitated to enable the continuation of the Music Therapy major. The Social Science Education major is also being preserved. The eliminated programs will continue to be offered through spring 2011 and the exact date of completion for each remains under review. The College currently offers 37 majors in its undergraduate program and four in the graduate program.

“The viability and strength of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College depends upon our collective will to envision a better future for the College and to move forward intentionally toward that future,” explained King. “It is clear that this is absolutely necessary to ensure a stronger SMWC for future generations.”

The restructuring, approved by the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College Cabinet and Board of Trustees, allows the College to maximize efficiency and enhance programs central to its mission. The result of these changes includes a more focused academic identity that is relevant to young women entering the campus program of this Catholic women’s college in 2011 and beyond.

King stressed the decision was based on the strategy of allocating resources toward areas of strength with programs, which are or have the potential to become programs of distinction. With enrollment on the rise for the fourth consecutive year and the program changes, the College will be poised for new and innovative opportunities to engage students and other partners.

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