Late yesterday afternoon the Iowa state Board of Regents voted unanimously to approve ceasing 58 majors, minors, and graduate programs at the University of Northern Iowa.
A few last-minute changes to the list were announced this morning, including suspending, rather than cutting, two programs offering geography and theater education minors. University of Northern Iowa Provost Gloria Gibson announced the changes to the list of programs to be cut, which included removing a BS in Physics and adding the Physics BA program.
Among other program cuts were all programs in German and French, with UNI Provost Gibson noting a lack of student demand.
The Regents denied a request from the UNI faculty senate to delay the decision, after faculty members voted on Monday night to ask for a delay to give more time to consider the program cuts. The UNI faculty senate and faculty union criticized the administration, claiming they did not cut deeply enough into athletics and auxiliary programs.
Additional budget saving plans include cutting $500,000 in funding from UNI athletics department over the next three years.
UNI President Ben Allen said the university had been struggling to bridge a $5 million dollar budget deficit this year.
There have been ongoing local protests centering the program cuts and a simultaneous decision by the university to close a research laboratory school.
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