77 Programs Listed for Closure or Restructuring In Official UNI Announcement Today

Physics, French, Russian, German and geology are a few of the undergraduate majors facing elimination in the latest round of budget cuts announced by the today.

The recommended cuts include 23 undergraduate majors, 19 undergraduate minors, 16 graduate programs, and the restructuring of 19 programs. The cuts must now be approved by the Iowa Board of Regents.

The full list of academic programs to be eliminated or restructured is available online here.

"We remain committed to our vision to become one of the nation's premier public universities; our core mission is to provide the best academic experience for our students," Allen said in a press release.  "It is not financially sound to fund academic programs with few graduates. We have a responsibility to parents, students and taxpayers to be good stewards of our financial resources."

UNI President Ben Allen and Provost Gloria Gibson are meeting at 2 p.m. with media to discuss the proposed program changes.

For comprehensive coverage of the Price Lab closure and other budget cuts, visit the Cedar Falls Patch topic page. Get notified of the latest on Price Lab and other UNI news by signing up to the Cedar Falls Patch newsletter. 

The cuts come in the face of a $5 million deficit in UNI's finances this year. they hope the cuts will help maintain the university's mission into an uncertain economic future.

Budget cuts at UNI, including the proposed closing of , have stirred controversy in recent weeks. The UNI faculty cast in Allen and Gibson March 2, a move unprecedented in the institution's history.

The number of graduates from a program was a large criteria in deciding which academic programs to close, Gibson has said.

All students enrolled in programs recommended for elimination will be able to finish their degrees, but no new students will be enrolled.

"The decision to close programs was not based on the quality of the faculty, curriculum or students in a program," Gibson said today. "Rather, student demand has changed and it is no longer possible for UNI to fund programs with few graduates."

Some tenured faculty will be affected by the program closures. On March 5, the Board of Regents for tenured faculty.

Today's press release said the total number of positions affected or the amount of budget impact would not be clear until full implementation of plans are complete. No timeline for completion of those plans was given.