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The news out of Morgantown is concerning: Consolidate or eliminate 32 majors -- nearly 10% of West Virginia University's academic offerings -- to help fill an immediate $45 million shortfall. The preliminary list of affected majors includes the total elimination of the world languages department, along with ending advance degree programs for mathematics.
The optics are terrible; in a state already stigmatized as being insulated from the wider world, our land-grant, flagship university is eliminating all foreign languages. In a state where mathematics attainment for our students remains one of our biggest challenges, advanced degrees in that subject are slated for elimination.
All this comes at a time when student enrollment at WVU -- once at more than 30,000, with a goal of 40,000 -- is heading in the wrong direction. About 26,000 students are projected for this fall semester. WVU officials believe that trend of sliding enrollment will continue in the coming years.
The future at WVU can't just be continued cuts to programs that may or may not be popular with students. There needs to be a strategic re-imagining of just how WVU delivers higher education, how it meets students more on their terms with offerings that can make a difference in their lives. The higher education landscape nationwide is changing quickly; WVU can't continue to cut its way out of problems.
WVU President E. Gordon Gee has never been shy about challenging others to rethink how education is delivered; perhaps it's time for WVU to do the same.