By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Missouri Western State University President Matt Wilson says the university began looking closely at its finances long before the coronavirus dealt a body blow to the economy.
Wilson will receive recommendations in a couple of weeks for dropping majors and cutting expenses to close a $2-to-3 million annual budget gap.
“Even before the coronavirus I mean this really was a difficult time for higher education,” Wilson tells St. Joseph Post. “If you look around the country, literally on a daily basis you have universities that are cutting faculty, eliminating programs. You’ve got universities that are going out of business in many states. The states themselves have started to look at merging institutions.”
Wilson says the states of Georgia and Wisconsin are considering college mergers. Connecticut is discussing integrating community colleges into four-year institutions.
“And so, what we’re experiencing at Missouri Western is very typical with what you see around the country,” according to Wilson.
A proposal to slash majors in 20 different disciplines is now open for discussion on the St. Joseph campus. Wilson is to receive a final proposal on the 15th. He will make his final recommendation to the Board of Governors at the end of the month.
Wilson says while the university plans to make cuts, it also looks to add courses and faculty to some high-demand programs, such as nursing. Wilson points out the nursing program has 50 students now with the potential of growing to 60 soon.
“The demand is there. The workforce pathway is there. Why not go out and invest in areas like that? You will see us as we’re transforming investing in nursing, investing in business, likely investing in engineering technologies,” Wilson says.
Many of the majors being dropped are in the Humanities. Under the recommendation, Missouri Western would no longer offer a major in history or in philosophy. Fewer majors will be offered in the arts, music, and communications.
Wilson says Missouri Western has been spending millions more than the revenue it pulls in each year for the past few years, failing to adjust to changes in higher education.
“You look across the state, even before coronavirus, and we were talking about universities needing to make adjustments,” Wilson says. “Missouri Western, we just have not done that over the course of the last 10 years. So, the need and the demand, I guess the necessity more accurately, has built up. We can’t waste any time. We need to more forward and need to do it now.”