MSU Program Cuts

     McNeese State University could lose 22 degree programs, as the state's higher education institutions are being asked to re-evaluate their degree inventory and decide which ones are no longer in demand.  The Board of Regents says the programs that are in jeopardy, are the ones that have a low number of graduates.  If they have too few, those programs could be labeled as "low completer," and therefore would face the risk of being cut.  McNeese received the list of programs in jeopardy from state officials about a week ago, and have been reviewing their options.  What's your reaction to McNeese possibly losing some of its programs?

Comments

[bill]

How much can be cut before it's all cut?

[old wise one]

Professors without work. Imagine that. Salary's like they make will certainly make the tuition cost go down. Yeah right!!!Bite the bullet like the rest of us. Nobody is immune to the economics of today. Spending has to stop. Supply and demand will eventually win out. Cut em, they can be reinstated at a later date if need be. My check book does not run on fumes. Neither should McNeese run without the money. It's time somebody else felt the economics besides the students and their parents.

[Poo Poo on McMoo]

How much should a real HIGH SCHOOL Education actually cost . McMoo U - the training ground for non sense degrees.
A Diploma from LCHS in the 50s and 60s is equivalent to a Master's Degree today @ the Moo. Give me a break. Cut it to the Bone , turn out some grass root graduates w/ common sense.

[Gump]

It's only fair that we publish the graduation rate of the separate atheletic programs.

[elohssa]

Engineering. Nursing. Teaching. And whatever local industry wants, like process control technology.

Cut the rest. Most of them only need to know how to say "You want fires with that?" anyway...

[spellingbee]

"fires"???? where did you graduate?

[Mom]

OK I'm going to play devil's advocate here --

1) Which programs are we talking about? The readers can't answer the question intelligently without specifics.

2) If we are discussing graduate courses then the school should fight for all they are worth. Many professionals in this area get graduate degrees while holding down full-time jobs; to eliminate their only avenue for more education is dumb.

3) As long as they are doing their job who cares what the professors are paid. I am sick and tired of reading snide remarks about incomes of the educated. I worked my way through college -- waited tables by night and went to school by day. I have paid my dues and I have earned my income and I DO NOT FEEL GUILTY for any of it; so either get an education or get over it!

4) There seems to be a section of this town that is against well rounded students. These people hate athletics, hate the band, and basically hate everything but books. These same people then make crude jokes about students with no common sense...here is a bulletin -- if all you do is read books and you never socialize, never join the real world THEN all you have are book smarts (i.e. - no common sense). I want my children exposed to different ideas and the social atmosphere in college because this develops a well rounded, open minded thinker and THAT is what we need for a future.

[Scott]

I think it is a great idea, and long overdue to close universities like SUNO which have a 5 percent graduation rate and to eliminate spending on degree programs that produce no graduates at other universities.

We shouldn't be throwing away tens of millions of dollars per year on what is obviously just busy work or jobs programs that produce nothing in return.

[Zombie Kid]

I like turtles.

[Obie one]

Ok Mom, Or you for or against? that is the question you did not answer. Your educated ,alright....

[Mike]

I agree with Mom. I also worked my way through college (twice) and I make no apologies for my educational choices. I'm sure there are programs which can be eliminated or consolidated and I think they should be. When I was in college, there were programs with very few students and I remember thinking then that this was a waste of resources. I'm sure this is still the case. I am in favor of consolidation of colleges and also programs within those colleges. We've gotten used to having everything at our fingertips but traveling to school is also a part of preparing for life in the "real world". There's nothing wrong with it. Sure it costs more (I did it) but the rewards far outweigh the costs and inconvenience. I think the bottom line here is that if you want an education then be willing to work for it. In today's financial crunch, higher education must be willing to tighten it's belt and if that means eliminating sparsely attended programs then so be it. Apparently the State has some criteria for determining what a reasonable enrollment in a given program is and I trust that their decisions will be in the best interests of the higher educational system as a whole.

[Sarah]

I graduated from the University of Louisiana at Monroe in 2004 with 7 other people in my major. That was the largest number of graduates in the program's history. ULM is the ONLY school in the state of Louisiana that offers this program. The program is well respected by employers and other academic programs across the county. I've had the pleasure of meeting many of our successful graduates. All 8 of us were either accepted to graduate school, joined the military to continue in the field, or had a pertinent job before our graduation ceremony.

Of course there were some people who didn't make it through the major - my freshman class began with 25 people. It was a tough course load and many students just couldn't cut it or changed their mind and switched majors. If that program would have been cut, I would have been forced to go out of state. Don't think that a program is useless because it only graduates small numbers.

[bill]

No one is saying it is useless Sarah, but for 8 people, that program is not monetarily feasible.

[spellingbee]

Regarding comments from "Obie One"
"Ok Mom, Or you for or against? that is the question you did not answer. Your educated ,alright...."

*** correction ***
"Ok Mom, Are you for or against? that is the question you did not answer. You're educated, alright ...." <-not sure what alright means there.

The grammar on this blog regarding education is pathetic.

[Gump]

Yew no, your write.

[just saying]

You can tell how much education Elohssa has(by his spelling) no wonder he wants to cut programs if he is not educated no one should be.lol

[Mickey]

Does cutting programs mean there will be less "student" who don't know how to cross the steet? Maybe we can go back to a normal speed limit aroung McNeese if there are less students .

[Tee Boudreaux]

spellingbee--

That's it, puppy! Don't address the idea, find a flaw with the presentation. You're clearly in possession of superior intellect and we should have you lead us forward to utopia.

just saying-

Stones. Glass houses. Dangerous combo, sort of like your spelling versus your obviously mad punctuation skillz.

I'll personally be a lot more amenable to McNeese griping about education cuts when they show me they're as serious about real education as they are about football. Come talk to me when they fly a team of amateur physicists to Hawaii for an experiment. What? No?!?!? Then why fly the football team around the country?

[Swamp Charly]

which programs are on the block?

It may be the right thing to do , but then not...we need all the facts!!!!

[Nuclear Narcisse]

Scrap it all and start over w/ the 3 Rs

We have been producing functional illiterates @ the cost of Hundreds of Billions .

[spelllingbee]

becuz footbawl is impotant. dat's why we all talk lik dat hear in luisiana may shay. Oh boo dow'nt crwy.

[Moi]

My reaction is McNeese will possibly lose some of its programs. The formula is standard..cut the budget...cut programs to fit new budget.

I am overwhelmed by these complicated questions!!!!