Did the liberal art disciplines at American universities have the highest failure rate between the 1970s and the early 2000s? Important theoretical traditions indeed believe that the liberal arts are the most threatened disciplines in the academy, while other theories have differing views. This paper reexamines the vulnerability of academic…

The faculty and administration at Drake University made the decision in 2001 to alter radically how language instruction was delivered and received, beginning by disbanding the long-standing Modern Language Department. The dissolution of the department and the new pedagogy caused ripples of concern and shock among language instructors and…

The purpose of the research is to identify the attitudes of the students at Kocaeli University towards closing down of Technical Education Faculty. These faculties were decided to be closed down in 2009. Since then, both the students and the instructors have been in ambiguity about their future careers. This situation has also affected them…

Faced with unprecedented budget cuts, Western University had implemented vertical cuts in the Spring of 2010 resulting in the elimination of two departments within their College of Education. Western University was not alone in its struggle. Institutions nationwide were coping with similar financial constraints, with freezes, consolidations, and…

When the University of Southern California announced that it would shutter its tiny German department, the outcry was out of proportion to the handful of faculty members and students directly affected by the move. In addition to students who advertised their dismay on Facebook and faculty members who complained that their efforts to bolster the…

A review of the 1983 attempt to close the Department of Adult Education at the University of Southampton illuminates the debates over the nature of adult education, the end of political consensus about educational policy, and the demise of the "Great Tradition" of university liberal education in the process of mainstreaming extramural…

This pilot study looked at the British lay public's evaluation of 20 different disciplines by asking them to rank-order them. In a cutting-saving exercise those departments (disciplines) thought most worthy of saving were English, mathematics, and computer science; those rated as least important were anthropology, film and media studies, and…

Studied the influence of demographic variables on the British public's perceptions of the usefulness of retaining faculties from different disciplines. Found that people's perceptions of what is worthy are not based on political affiliation but are dependent on a number of socioeconomic variables. (EV)

Reports on a tenure controversy within the Indiana University department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures that has involved possible death threats, a hunger strike, and controversy over the department's continued existence. For now the professor, an expert on Islamic philosophy, remains at the institution, other faculty have left, and…

This report focuses on productivity improvements in instructional programs at Illinois' public universities by providing an assessment of statewide instructional capacity. The report identifies 22 disciplines in which reduction, consolidation, or elimination of programs should be considered. It notes that when programs are offered by several…

The Netherlands' use of an ad hoc interinstitutional committee of university board members during a period of retrenchment is described which resulted in a plan to close a number of university departments and to terminate many small and not very successful research programs. (MSE)

Roughly 20 years after Black studies and other ethnic studies fields evolved from campus protest, new questions are arising about the role of separate ethnic studies departments in face of the movement toward multiculturalism in the college curriculum. Very real economic realities underlie the academic and social concerns. (MSE)

Diplomacy and political sophistication are as important as sound data and thorough review in the faculty layoff process. Distinguishing characteristics of institutions and departments affected by retrenchment and reasons for retrenchment are discussed, along with institutional research policies needed regarding release of data. (Author/LB)

This article recounts the origin, in 1976, of the Women's Studies Program at the Australian National University, the lack of administrative support received by the program, and its current declining status. Stressed are the difficulties such an interdisciplinary program faces at an institution organized on traditional departmental lines. (DB)

Data from the Survey on Higher Education Finances and Services were analyzed to determine whether higher education institutions (n=711) experienced operating budget cuts during the fiscal year (after the budget was initially approved) between fiscal years 1990 and 1993. While 17 percent had experienced such cuts during fiscal year 1990, this…