MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — The West Virginia University Board of Governors will vote next month to deactivate 12 of the university’s masters and doctoral programs.
As part of the Graduation Program Portfolio Review within the academic transformation, the WVU Office of the Provost website says that 37 “programs of concern” were evaluated after several years of gathering data.
The following programs were recommended to be completely discontinued after the start of the 2023-2024 school year. The final decision will be made by the Board of Governors on June 23.
- MA Digital Technology and Connected Learning
- MA Elementary Education
- MA Instructional Design and Technology
- MA Secondary Education
- MS Agriculture and Extension Education
- MS Coaching and Sport Education (in-person)
- MS Finance
- MS Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Resources
- MS Safety Management (on-campus)
- PhD Accounting
- PhD Agriculture and Extension Education
- PhD Occupational Safety and Health (on-campus)
The MA Instructional Design and Technology and MS Finance were appealed by their academic units, but both appeals were denied on April 27.
Programs under the MS Plant and Soil Sciences, including Entomology, Horticulture, Plant Pathology, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, and Environmental, Soil and Water Sciences, will be merged into one major.
A number of programs that were reviewed are set to continue, but some require “specific action” by the university. The following programs must submit improvement plans to the Provost by May 31:
- EDD Higher Education Administration
- MBA Healthcare Business Administration
- MA Higher Education Administration
- MA Landscape Architecture
- MA Professional Writing and Editing
- MLS Legal Studies
- MS Accounting
- MS Computer Science
- MS Energy Environments
- MS Genetics and Developmental Biology
- MS Mathematics
- MS Mining Engineering
- MS Nutritional and Food Sciences
- PhD Animal and Food Science
- PhD Computer Engineering
- PhD Computer Science
- PhD Electrical Engineering
- PhD Genetics and Developmental Biology
- PhD Mathematics
- PhD Mining Engineering
- PhD Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering
Three programs—MA Special Education, MA Communication Studies and MS Journalism—will continue at their current level of activity.
The preliminary recommendations on the above graduate programs were released in late March, and appeals were completed in April.
Since then, the Board of Governors has also approved a timeline for non-graduate programs of concern. Based on that timeline, in July, the board will discuss programs that may be reduced or discontinued, and in August, the Provost will give a preliminary recommendation on those programs. That official vote will take place in September.