MONMOUTH, Ore. — Western Oregon University, in the small Willamette Valley city of Monmouth, will cut multiple programs and the equivalent of over a dozen full-time faculty, hoping to get ahead of falling enrollment that became worse during the pandemic.
Administrators say the cuts are necessary to protect the university’s financial health, and are a way to keep the 165-year-old institution affordable, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.
But employees, current students and alumni say they’re worried about a change in campus culture and community — especially with eliminations of programs like philosophy, which teach broadly beneficial skills, such as critical thinking, analysis and writing.
“To cut philosophy is to cut out the soul of the university,” WOU philosophy department chair Mark Perlman said. Perlman has been teaching at the university for 23 years, and is among four tenured professors being laid off.
The equivalent of 11 non-tenured faculty are also affected, either through layoff, or a significant reduction in the classes they’re teaching.
Late last year, a task force including University President Rex Fuller, released a plan laying out cuts including philosophy, anthropology and geography, master’s programs in information systems and in music, as well as other certificates and minors.
That task force deemed the cuts necessary because of low or declining enrollment in those programs.
The university also announced last year that more than 50 staff members were either to be laid off or not have their contracts renewed.
As for the current program eliminations, the faculty union said that it is not persuaded that such drastic cuts are needed, and if they are needed, then there needs to be a more transparent process.
Western has seen a trend of declining enrollment for years. From 2011 to 2020, the university’s enrollment has decreased more than 25%, according to the university.
