MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — Several majors will now likely remain at West Virginia University after department chairs appealed the recommendation to remove them.
According to a release from WVU sent Thursday, the university has overturned its recommendation for the MFA in Acting and the BA in Art History, and they will remain at the school in some form.
The Acting MFA was found to be “central to all School operations and both undergraduate and graduate programs.” Also in the School of Theater and Dance, the recommendation to combine all MFA production majors into a single major was also overturned because the university “determined there are no significant savings or efficiencies to be gained.”
The BA in Art History will undergo a name and curriculum change to focus on both art history and museum studies, under the new recommendation.
Although the School of Mathematical and Data Sciences did not appeal the recommended discontinuation of the Ph.D. and MS Mathematics programs, its appeal to develop an Intent to Plan for an applied mathematics/data sciences degree program at the doctoral level, which was approved.
Other changes that were made to WVU’s recommendations were:
- Reduction in faculty cuts in the Division of Plant and Soil Sciences to keep 11
- Reduction in faculty cuts in the School of Theatre and Dance to keep 17
- Reduction in faculty cuts in the School of Art and Design to keep 16
- Number of required credits in the College of Law reduced from 91 to 86
- Revision to undergraduate curriculum in the School of Mathematical and Data Sciences
- Reduction in faculty cuts in the School of Mathematical and Data Sciences to keep 32
More changes from appeals, including the new recommendations for foreign language, are available here.
Decisions on additional appeals will continue to be released until Sept. 5, and the Board of Governors will hear public comments until Sept. 14, the release said. The final vote on the program cuts will be on Sept. 15.
