Regents study: 83% of WSU’s degree programs should be ‘optimized’ or ‘reviewed’
With enrollment declining across Kansas universities as a whole, a consultant has determined that just 18 of Wichita State’s 109 degree programs are enrolling and graduating students at a desirable level.
Headcount enrollment at WSU increased from 16,921 in fall 2021 to 21,942 in fall 2022.
But the report, which analyzed trends between 2017 and 2021, found that more than 83% of WSU’s undergraduate and graduate programs should either be “optimized” (56%) or “reviewed and monitored” (27%).
The report notes that for programs in the middle tier, “optimize indicates there is decline or below median performance and therefore informal monitoring would be helpful.”
For programs in the lower tier, it notes: “Below institutional median headcount, negative growth in headcount, below institutional median degree production.”
WSU Provost Shirley Lefever said she’s not concerned by the findings of the study, which was commissioned by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university regularly audits its academic programs, she said.
“As a university, our current program reviews represent programs that are meeting the needs of our students, stakeholders, and the priorities of the university,” Lefever wrote in an email response to Eagle questions.
Higher education consulting firm RPK Group issued its final report on program success across Kansas’ six state universities in January. The report does not include granular data on each institution’s programming, but WSU-specific data from RPK was made public on the Faculty Senate’s web page.
“What we’re really trying to do is inform the decisions that we’re going to have to make over the next several years and really create a well-defined process,” regents chair and Wichita restaurateur Jon Rolph told The Eagle.
“That’s going to help us know the right questions to ask to know when to cut a program or when to say yes to a new program.”
He said faculty senate bodies at each university have been asked to provide input on the RPK analysis before the regents decide what to do with the data in March.
“I hesitate to say that we know exactly what we’re going to do yet,” Rolph said. “We’re waiting to hear from faculty on what they think, and that may have a different outcome. RPK is not the be-all end-all voice for us on this project. They’re a voice and a data point.”
Rolph said he’s not a huge fan of RPK’s “maintain,” “optimize” and “review/monitor” classifications, which indicate that 83% of WSU’s academic programs are performing sub-optimally.
“I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t love how they labeled those because I think it’s just a little misleading,” Rolph said.
“The nature of a university is, you’re going to have a lot [of programs] — based on the criteria that they pulled — that are going to fit in that mid-tier.”
The regents have historically assessed the success and viability of degree programs on an institution-by-institution basis. The recent study represents an effort to gain a broader system-wide perspective on academic offerings with an eye toward identifying duplicative programs that are under-performing expectations.
Duplication
Of the 688 degree programs offered at Kansas universities, RPK determined that 16% are performing at a desirable level, 58% need to be optimized based on mixed enrollment and graduation indicators, and the lowest-achieving 26% should be reviewed and monitored.
According to RPK, 13 undergraduate degrees — most of them fine arts, humanities and science programs — aren’t performing at a desirable level at any of the universities where they are offered: chemistry, drama/theater arts and stagecraft, English language and literature, fine and studio arts, geological and earth sciences, history, LAS general studies, linguistics, mathematics, music, philosophy, physics and sociology.
Consultant Mike Daly told the regents in December that the firm’s findings shouldn’t be interpreted as a recommendation to cut specific programs.
Francis Connor, chair of WSU’s English department, said discontinuing majors at WSU just because they are offered at other state universities would be unconscionable.
“If WSU discontinued the English department, or any of our humanities departments, it would be a massive betrayal of the university’s mission to be an essential educational, cultural, and economic driver for Kansas,” Francis wrote in an email.
“It would be damaging to the local Wichita community — for one thing, most of our majors come from the area, and they would no longer have the opportunity to study literature, creative writing, or linguistics at a local program with teachers and scholars who are nationally and internationally recognized experts in their fields.”
Lefever did not respond directly when asked if WSU is considering cutting any degree programs.
“Every program at WSU undergoes a thorough internal review every four years, in addition to reviews by KBOR, the Higher Learning Commission, and in many cases, specific specialized accrediting bodies,” Lefever said. “We continually use those reviews with a focus of continuous improvement to make program changes that ensure our programs continue to meet constituent needs.
Teaching workload
In addition to recommending an annual assessment of the state’s degree offerings, RPK suggested that the regents begin collecting data on teaching workload and activity based on the number of student credit hours generated by instructors at each university.
“Given that this is a new data collection for KBOR staff, the regents should monitor the metric and data for two to three years, and then revisit the idea of establishing teaching workload targets or setting expectations for trends,” RPK’s final report states. “For example, the board might require that institutions maintain or improve upon a particular average once the data collection and reporting process is stable.”
Lefever said credit hour production won’t be the only metric used to assess faculty performance.
“Faculty have a myriad of responsibilities that are not always easily captured in a quantitative manner such as student credit hour production,” she said. “Therefore, the program review process will require a holistic approach, an approach we currently use at Wichita State.”
Last fall, Emporia State fired 33 faculty and staff as part of a controversial new workforce-management policy that is not directly related to the RPK study. The move was made possible through a regents COVID-19 measure that allowed for any university employee, even otherwise protected tenured faculty, to be terminated.
That provision expired at the end of 2022. Lefever said WSU has no plans for a mass layoff as part of its program review process.
“WSU administration has communicated that we have no intention of eliminating tenured faculty members,” Lefever said. “We believe that by continuing to complete a thorough internal program review for each of our programs every few years, that will reduce the need for the type of drastic measures we have seen other universities have to take.”
‘Review and monitor’
Here are the WSU degree programs RPK flagged for the regents to “review and monitor.”
Undergraduate
Computer Engineering
Business/Managerial Economics
Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations
International Business
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas
Philosophy
History
Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies
Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services
Mathematics
Chemistry
Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences
Physics
Sociology
Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft
Music
Graduate
Educational Administration and Supervision
English Language and Literature, General
Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities
History
Mathematics
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
Physical Sciences, General
Chemistry
Anthropology
Economics
Sociology
Fine and Studio Arts
Doctoral
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services
High-performing
Here are the WSU degree programs RPK found to be enrolling and graduating students at a desirable rate. Programs not listed here or above were classified in the middle as “optimize.”
Undergraduate
Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering
Biomedical/Medical Engineering
Industrial Engineering
Human Resources Management and Services
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods
Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General
Computer and Information Sciences, General
Psychology, General
Design and Applied Arts
Graduate
Business/Commerce, General
Special Education and Teaching
Student Counseling and Personnel Services
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services
Computer and Information Sciences, General
Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology
Public Administration
Social Work
Doctoral
Educational Administration and Supervision
