Opponents question numbers used in cutting LU degrees

Soldiers Memorial on the campus of Lincoln University honors the men of the 62nd and 65th Colored Infantries who founded the institution in Jefferson City after they fought in the Civil War.
Soldiers Memorial on the campus of Lincoln University honors the men of the 62nd and 65th Colored Infantries who founded the institution in Jefferson City after they fought in the Civil War.

Even as Lincoln University's curators were discussing the administration's recommendation to cut LU's history degree program in three years, opponents of the plan were sitting in the back of the board room, shaking their heads.

After the conference call meeting last Monday, several opponents complained that Said Sewell, LU's provost and Academic Affairs vice president, used some wrong numbers while answering curators' questions.

After more than an hour's discussion, the curators voted 4-2 to accept the LU administration's recommendations on 11 programs reviewed this past year.

Only three of those degree programs were targeted for immediate elimination: early childhood education, which is a two-year associate degree program, and the four-year bachelor's degrees in music education and in sacred music.

However, the most uproar, so far, has been about the decision to decertify the history degree, which means it's no longer part of the school's official catalog and can't accept new students. Those who have already declared a history major can finish their work and graduate with a bachelor's degree in history.

Sewell reminded the board LU could use that time to redesign the program and, if the president asked and the board approved, a redesigned program could be reactivated.

Nevertheless, opponents of the change have started a "Save History at Lincoln University" Facebook page that has already posted several links to LU's past and to some national articles about the board's Monday decision.

Inside Higher Education, an online newsletter, had a story Wednesday about the LU board's decision and how "some on campus fear the vote was really about condemning the major to a slow death."

The information given to curators ahead of Monday's meeting listed the 11 programs that were reviewed and the average number of graduates over the last five years.

Sewell reminded curators a self-study was done by faculty in each of the programs under review. That study went to a panel of senior faculty members who reviewed it for strengths and weaknesses before making recommendations for each program.

Opponents of the board's action noted the review process didn't recommend canceling any programs, although it did suggest ways to strengthen some of them.

Included in its April 1 report to Sewell, the six-member committee offered general recommendations for the area of Academic Affairs, including:

Create additional scholarships for the recruitment of targeted students populations.

Enhance Lincoln's recruitment and internal and external communication efforts.

Assess student aptitude and strengths prior to declaring a major field.

Commit to university-level tracking of graduates.

Increase community involvement and visibility; designate faculty and students to attend.

The study also noted, "Every program under review which has a secondary education program attached appeared to be struggling to balance content and education program requirements."

Sewell told curators he received the report and shared its comments with each program head, the dean and the program department head.

After getting reactions to the report, Sewell said he made his recommendation to the president on programs LU should maintain, restructure, eliminate or de-activate.

He said his recommendations were made in the best interests of Lincoln University's future.

Noting students were "voting with their feet" by not getting degrees in some programs, Sewell said his recommendations were an effort to give LU administrators room to create programs that would be more attractive to students.

"The MDHE (Missouri Department of Higher Education) expects that all under-graduate programs," he explained, "(have) a certain number of graduates - 10 for undergraduate programs and at least five annually for graduate programs."

Gaffke asked if that requirement didn't give larger schools - like the University of Missouri or Missouri State - a better opportunity than Lincoln and other smaller state schools.

Sewell said he disagreed with the question's premise because some LU programs easily exceed those numbers.

After the meeting, opponents of the board's decision said when board members asked Sewell for current enrollment information in addition to the graduation averages, he reported the most recent number of graduates.

Questions on those numbers, prompted a News Tribune review.

Using the most recent annual report produced by Lincoln officials, the average graduation numbers Sewell gave the board were correct in 10 of the 11 programs, but all the enrollment numbers were wrong.

The programs recommended for immediate or eventual elimination were:

History - five-year average graduation rate with that degree, 4.4 students; five-year average of total students, 17.2.

Early childhood education - five-year average graduation rate, 5.4 students; five-year average of total students, 31.8. Sewell said eliminating the two-year degree program was requested by the department.

Sacred music - five-year average graduation rate, 2.4 students; five-year average of total students, 10.8.

Music education - five-year average graduation rate, 1.2 students; five-year average of total students enrolled, 30.2.

Degree programs being maintained with no restrictions or changes were:

Accounting - five-year average graduation rate, 12.4 students; five-year average of total students, 76.6.

Psychology - five-year average graduation rate, 16.6 students; five-year average of total students, 130.8.

Programs being maintained with monitoring were:

Journalism - five-year average graduation rate, 9.6 students; five-year average of total students, 82.2.

Physical education - five-year average graduation rate, 6.4 students; five-year average of total students, 60.4.

Social work - five-year average graduation rate, 9.2 students; five-year average of total students, 67.8.

Programs being maintained but restructured were:

Chemistry - five-year average graduation rate, 2.0 students; five-year average of total students, 14.8.

Pre-engineering, a two-year, associate's degree program - five-year average graduation rate, 2.0 students; five-year average of total students, 34.4.

Public administration - five-year average graduation rate, 0.2 students; five-year average of total students, 1.8. Sewell reported the graduation rate as 1.6 students, but it's had only one graduate in the last five years.

Even with its low participation rate, Sewell told the curators, "We believe that, based on the location of Lincoln University in the shadow of the state Capitol, and all of the government official offices, that we (should) maintain public administration."

There was no discussion Monday about how many students take classes in one program but earn their degree in another.

During the discussion about history, Sewell mentioned deactivating the degree could lead to some cost-savings by having fewer teachers, but there was no cost-benefit analysis provided for any of the programs discussed, nor was there a discussion about how many classes are needed for general education courses.