<p>Just hear on the news that the University of Maine is eliminating all foreign language majors, of which they only have about 4 to start with. They are consolidating astronomy and physics and possibly chemistry into one department, consolidating anthropology and something else into one department, consolidating several forest and agricultural departments into one, and also eliminating the theater and music majors. And probably more that I didn't catch.</p>
<p>One wonders where Maine will get its next generation of language teachers, amongst other things...</p>
<p>How about native speakers? I honestly cannot see a reason why someone who grew up and was educated in Spain, Argentina, China, Italy, Germany, Russia, etc. and immigrated to the US, and then sought a teaching certification, could not teach their native language in American schools.</p>
<p>I hadn’t heard that yet, Consolation. I will have to read the Portland paper tomorrow! Eliminating foreign language doesn’t make much sense to me.</p>
<p>They will be teaching language courses but they will eliminate the majors. It looks like the want to cut departmental staff. In New England, I think that MA and NH are doing somewhat to moderately better than Maine with regard to revenues. ME is known as Vacationland and tourism is discretionary spending.</p>
<p>I read that they will also be cutting engineering majors. States have to do what they have to do - if the revenues and students aren’t there, then they have to cut.</p>
<p>Really, you have to ask yourself how much of a university system a state with a total population of about 1.2 million can reasonably support. It would probably make sense for many of the states with a smaller population to merge their higher education functions into regional university systems.</p>
<p>^According to Wikipedia, Delaware has an estimated 2009 population of under 900,000, and last year it instituted a FAFSA full-need policy for in-state students.</p>
<p>I’m not comparing the two states–they are in VERY different positions financially, both in terms of economic dependency and university endowment–but small state != unable to support flagship university.</p>
<p>Well, honey, we’re poor. Our population is spread out over a much bigger area. We aren’t industrialized. And note that I said university system, not just the ostensible flagship. State university systems need to support populations away from the flagship.</p>
<p>And the University of Delaware isn’t exactly one of the leading flagships either, is it? Maybe they’d be better off merging with U MD.</p>
<p>These changes make quite a bit of sense to me for UMaine. I would like to see them eliminate the football program as others have done. It is a cash drain at UMaine and is expensive. UMaine is a hockey school.</p>
<p>I don’t think that you have a very good grasp of Maine’s economic history. Tourism is what’s left after the textile mills, shoe companies, dairy farms, chicken farms, shipbuilding, etc, etc departed. It’s not like the state started out as a tourist mecca or intended to depend on tourism. On the other hand, if you are a place that people want to visit, it’s pretty stupid to turn your nose up at it.</p>
<p>I don’t think you grasped my comparison. Newfoundland started out with the fishing industry, until the stocks all collapsed. Tourism is all that’s really left.</p>
<p>Wow. Those are pretty sweeping cuts. Eliminating the music majors, the theater majors, and all language majors. Combining Physics and Chemistry in a single department.</p>
<p>At least they are keeping the really important stuff. Like football.</p>
<p>Are they in a tuition consortium with other New England states? Their OOS tuition is pretty high for a school that doesn’t feature well-known programs.</p>
<p>No, they are not sweeping cuts. Valuable resources will be allocated where they are most needed. The market for education has only just begun to speak. And touchy-feely degrees are out of vogue (except for the wealthy). </p>
<p>Rest assured that similar programs will survive at colleges as student demand dictates. But the demand for such pursuits will be smaller and the institutions offering them fewer. BTW, If you haven’t noticed already, our kids are competing in a world where efficiency and ingenuity counts most.</p>
<p>That’s true, Toblin. Cost is only one half of the equation–if there isn’t enough student interest in majoring in a foreign language, it makes no sense to have a major if you need to cut.</p>
Their zoology, biology, and natural resource programs, which account for 1/4 of undergrads, are absolutely outstanding. The best in the Northeast, after UNH.</p>
<p>
A quick glance over institutional data shows the following number of majors:</p>
<p>In other words, 1 out of every 57 students will have his/her major cut. While disappointing, it is not unreasonable. It should be noted that the art department alone, which is staying intact, enrolls more students than all of those disciplines combined.</p>
Dependency on tourism has wreaked havoc on many local economies… like my dear Newfoundland.</p>