UMaine poised to end Spanish degree, suspend medical lab degree

A representative body of faculty members at the University of Maine on Wednesday voted in favor of eliminating a master’s degree and suspending a bachelor’s degree, following similar changes to 10 other programs at campuses across the University of Maine System this fiscal year.

Members of the Faculty Senate at the Orono campus overwhelmingly passed a resolution to eliminate the master of arts in teaching Spanish, which senate members noted was the University of Maine System’s only Spanish master’s degree, amid low enrollment and with support from the Spanish language faculty.

The group also passed a resolution to suspend for three years a medical laboratory sciences bachelor’s degree that has not been enrolling students in its program for a number of years, according to Mary Jean Sedlock, a faculty senate member who co-chairs the Program Creation and Reorganization Review Committee, which reviews proposals to cut, reorganize or add academic programs. After the suspension period ends, the medical laboratory sciences program will be reviewed for possible elimination.

Changes to both programs will need additional review and ultimately approval from the University of Maine System Board of Trustees to take effect. No changes will result in the elimination of faculty or closure of a department, Sedlock said.

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“It’s unfortunate for the reasons that were articulated at the senate meeting,” said College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean Emily Haddad of the Spanish program. “But it’s also an appropriate decision based on the demand for the program.”

Haddad said enrollment for the master’s degree in how to teach Spanish has been historically low. In the past five years, she said enrollment ranged from zero to just three students each year. She added that typically a master’s in teaching has a pathway for students to get licensed to teach in a K-12 school. But this master’s in teaching did not offer that pathway.

Students will still be able to study Spanish. Enrollment at the undergraduate level for the Spanish minor is “very healthy,” and the number of students selecting Spanish as their major is “steady,” Haddad said. She said she does not foresee reopening a Spanish master’s degree in the future.

Carlos Villacorta-Gonzales, the department chair for modern languages and classics, declined an interview with The Maine Monitor. Neither the chair of the Department of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences nor the dean of the College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences could be reached for comment on the suspension of the medical laboratory sciences bachelor’s degree.

The Faculty Senate’s endorsement of both program changes is part of a committee review process that will next go to the provost and UMaine’s president for review and endorsement. Following that, the provost and presidents of all campuses in the system will need to weigh in on the changes, Sedlock said. Then they will be reviewed by the chancellor and ultimately approved or denied by the board of trustees.

The board of trustees will likely discuss the issue at its next full meeting in May, University of Maine System spokesperson Samantha Warren said.

The board of trustees approved 10 other program suspensions and eliminations within the past fiscal year — including to degrees in cybersecurity, English, liberal arts and French — at the University of Maine in Augusta, University of Maine at Fort Kent and the University of Southern Maine.

Warren said that each university in the system has procedures for proposing new or revised programs, including eliminating programs “for which there is no longer sufficient demand to sustain.” These types of changes, she said, are typically started by faculty. When programs are eliminated, universities still offer required courses or substitutions, so students already working towards degrees can complete them.

The proposed program changes come amid a broader budgeting process and strategic planning exercise, which aims to re-think how Maine’s flagship public university can best serve students and address serious budget challenges. The process has faced criticism from staff and faculty.

In the fall, those leading the strategic planning process released a document that evaluated academic programs by metrics such as enrollment, credit hours, degrees awarded and potential for job growth. In this document, a master’s degree in Spanish was flagged as needing “review,” while the medical laboratory sciences bachelor’s degree did not appear to be on the list.

In December, UMaine announced budget cuts of 7 percent across the board to address an $18 million budget shortfall projected for the next fiscal year.

Earlier this week, UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy sent an email to colleagues at UMaine and the University of Maine at Machias, announcing how she would close the gap: by laying off “fewer than 10” staff, attrition, a $2.3 million increase in state funding, and use of grant, gift and reserve funding.

Ferrini-Mundy said that the proposed budget for the next school year reflects a 2.6 percent decrease in credit hours, or the number of course hours students take.

The proposed cuts also come as universities across the U.S. face enrollment cliffs. In Maine, however, the system said this fall that it had its highest enrollment — 25,870 students — since 2021. In 2021, the system had 26,111 students, the Bangor Daily News reported.

For next school year, the system has accepted 26,164 students, according to a public dataset from the system, though it’s not yet clear how many of those students will ultimately enroll.

A full budget proposal for the 2027 fiscal year will be made public next week.

This story was originally published by The Maine Monitor and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.