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The University of Providence in Great Falls, Mont., is moving to put in place academic program and athletic cuts as it refocuses on science, math and health care.
A dozen majors are set to be eliminated at the private Roman Catholic university, along with six minors and a graduate program. That would leave almost 30 undergraduate and graduate programs, plus concentrations, according to the Great Falls Tribune.
Most of the programs on the chopping block are likely to be in the humanities, as the university is refocusing on majors in science, math and health-care fields. The university’s athletic director is putting together a list of sports programs for cuts, and men’s lacrosse is already scheduled to end this year. The university’s board is scheduled to meet Feb. 14 to vote on the changes.
Administrators called it a time of “pruning and planting,” where the university is cutting in some areas and investing in others.
In January, the University of Providence had a probation lifted by its accreditor, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. The accreditor put the institution on probation this summer, asking for more information on a relationship between the university and a Roman Catholic health-care system that helped it build its school of health professions.
When it lifted the probation, the accreditor required several follow-up actions. Among them, it asked the university about its fiscal stability and asked how its plans will “positively address enrollment and retention challenges.”
