The U. of Akron announced on Wednesday that it would phase out 80 degree programs. The next day, it announced it would open “the largest amount of dedicated esports space of any university in the world to date.”JEN9841/Wikimedia Commons
The University of Akron will phase out 80 degree programs, about 20 percent of what it now offers, in part, to save money for the future, the university announced on Wednesday.
The cuts come after a yearlong review of Akron’s degrees and degree tracks. Among the university’s strengths are nursing, biosciences, engineering, dance, and music, Akron’s Board of Trustees said in a statement. The 10 Ph.D. programs, 33 master’s programs, 20 bachelor’s programs, and 17 associate-degree programs that will be phased out suffered low enrollment or were duplicates of prosperous programs at other, similar institutions.
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The U. of Akron announced on Wednesday that it would phase out 80 degree programs. The next day, it announced it would open “the largest amount of dedicated esports space of any university in the world to date.”JEN9841/Wikimedia Commons
The University of Akron will phase out 80 degree programs, about 20 percent of what it now offers, in part, to save money for the future, the university announced on Wednesday.
The cuts come after a yearlong review of Akron’s degrees and degree tracks. Among the university’s strengths are nursing, biosciences, engineering, dance, and music, Akron’s Board of Trustees said in a statement. The 10 Ph.D. programs, 33 master’s programs, 20 bachelor’s programs, and 17 associate-degree programs that will be phased out suffered low enrollment or were duplicates of prosperous programs at other, similar institutions.
The process will take a few years, and will free up about $6 million for reallocation, Alex Knisely, a university spokesman, said in an email. There’s no plan to terminate any faculty or staff members because of the program cuts, the statement said. Akron also wants to hire 31 full-time faculty members in those programs identified as priorities, the statement said.
As the university ends what it deems unpopular degrees, it is leaning into a current trend on college campuses: competitive video gaming, known as esports. On Thursday, Akron announced that it would open three facilities to accommodate varsity, club, and recreational gamers. The university said the centers would represent “the largest amount of dedicated esports space of any university in the world to date.”
Existing rooms in the university’s student union, football stadium, and honors college will be renovated, at a total cost of about $750,000, Knisely said. He noted that sponsorships to offset the cost are in the works. Annual operating costs for the esports program will be about $400,000, with an undetermined amount for facility upkeep, plus $70,000 for game licenses, league dues, marketing, and some travel, Knisely said. Those figures don’t include salaries for coaches, coordinators, team managers, and scholarships for players.
Akron isn’t alone in pursuing esports opportunities. Boise State University, Columbia College, and the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology have all jumped on the virtual bandwagon. Dozens of colleges now boast scholarships for varsity esports teams.
Akron also has a recent history of attempts to pivot with the future in mind. In 2015 the university’s then president rebranded the institution as Ohio’s “Polytechnic University” of the future, one that uses technology to teach students skills that are highly valued by industry. That president, Scott L. Scarborough, had other big plans. He wanted to head off declining enrollment and alumni donations by expanding Akron’s online teaching. At one point, Scarborough wanted to exponentially expand an undergraduate nursing program from a few dozen students to a few thousand.
But things didn’t go according to plan. Branding Akron as Ohio’s polytechnic university provoked a protest petition with more than 10,000 signatures. The Akron faculty voted repeatedly to express no confidence in Scarborough after he failed to raise enrollment numbers and donations, and after the Board of Trustees voted to lay off staff members. Scarborough resigned abruptly, in May 2016, less than two years after he took office.
Now Akron is redirecting resources to programs where the institution thinks they’re needed, which is “difficult but necessary work,” said Chancellor John Carey, of the Ohio Department of Higher Education, in a statement about the cuts. In the long run, he said, Akron will be stronger because of it.
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And Akron is taking esports “seriously,” the university said in a statement on Thursday, by “providing student gamers with esports facilities unlike any other kind in the world.” The centers will open October 5.
EmmaPettit is a senior reporter at The Chronicle who covers the ways people within higher ed work and live — whether strange, funny, harmful, or hopeful. She’s also interested in political interference on campus, as well as overlooked crevices of academe, such as a scrappy puppetry program at an R1 university and a charmed football team at a Kansas community college. Follow her on Twitter at @EmmaJanePettit, or email her at emma.pettit@chronicle.com.
