MACOMB, Ill. (AP) — Trustees at Western Illinois University are to decide this week on whether they will eliminate four degree programs due to poor enrollment and low graduation rates.
The programs include African-American studies, philosophy, religious studies and women's studies, the Chicago Tribune reports. They would be cut from the Macomb and Quad Cities campuses. Trustees are to vote Friday.
Interim provost and academic vice president Kathleen Neumann says if trustees eliminate the programs there would be cuts to faculty positions in the 2017-2018 school year. If the cuts are approved no new students could declare the majors and students already in the programs would receive individualized study plans to complete their degrees.
Neumann says the state's lack of a budget did not directly affect recommendations to end the programs.