The northern Utah university published a list late last week of 14 academic programs that will be axed, with most of those falling under USU’s College of Education and Human Services.
One cut that stands out is the bachelor’s degree program for environmental engineering — which comes as lawmakers have said they want schools to expand engineering programs because there’s a high workforce demand for those graduates.
The budget cuts, overall, have been pushed by state leaders who say they want to see more efficiency and less “administrative bloat” in the state’s eight public colleges and universities. This year, lawmakers slashed $60.5 million across the board from institution budgets, with the demand under HB265 they reduce majors or programs that have few graduates and lead to lower paying jobs.
A university can get its share of its cut back only if it proves it’s reinvested in high-wage jobs that the state needs.
USU’s share of the budget reduction is $12.6 million. So far, it has announced that it will merge five colleges into two to try to save money. It has also asked for employees for voluntary resignations and retirements. And interim President Alan L. Smith said that layoffs will be likely after that.
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This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.
