By Josephine E. Moore, The Register~Herald
BECKLEY, W.Va. — West Virginia University Institute of Technology officials have begun eliciting feedback for its program review process, which has some students and faculty fearing it will lead to a repeat of cuts experienced at WVU.
Although it was a similar academic review process that resulted in cuts to academic programs and faculty at WVU, Lou Slimak, associate provost for curriculum and assessment at WVU, said the goals for each institution during this process are vastly different.
“When I had this meeting in Morgantown, the stated goals were to reduce cost,” Slimak said. “That meant cutting programs. That meant cutting faculty.”
Though he admitted that the process could result in cuts to programs and faulty at Tech, Slimak said the goals for Tech are not spurred by a need to meet specific financial requirements but to review programs and improve student success.
“It is understandable then that something under the same moniker starts to cause community panic, student panic,” he said. “So part of my job is to come down here and say, ‘Here are the goals. Here’s the processes. It’s different. It’s the same in certain ways, but it’s very different in terms of the goals.’”
Slimak said he defines student success as the ability of students to stay in their majors and complete them.
He added that WVU Potomac State College is also undergoing a similar process.
