N.C. State is not immune to the problems of Elizabeth City State University, which is currently facing a decision to drop seven programs including history, physics and political science.

Every two years, the UNCSystem General Administration reviews all programs at each of the 16 UNC-System colleges and universities to ensure the programs are meeting enrollment and graduation standards. In 2012, the General Administration recommended that N.C. State review 13 degrees, including one associate’s degree, four baccalaureate degrees, three masters programs and five doctoral programs.  These programs were labeled “low productivity,” due to either current enrollment numbers or the number of degrees awarded.

Duane Larick, senior vice provost for academic strategy and resource management, said University officials who get these reports and are required to respond with intended changes, which include elimination or plans to increase enrollment. 

Larick said he thinks Elizabeth City State University is in a different situation than N.C. State. ECSU is experiencing overall enrollment issues, Larick said, as opposed to problems with specific majors. 

ECSU’s enrollment has dropped from 3,300 students in 2010 to about 2,400 this fall. Larick said given those circumstances, it is not surprising ECSU is having to prioritize academic offerings.

“They’ve had such a steep of a drop in enrollment, that it’s caused them to look at their curriculum,” Larick said. “They are rethinking what students want and what students need.”

Larick said N.C. State does the same thing. He pointed to a University-run task force, which reviews all of the majors at the N.C. State and gauges its productivity and effectiveness. Larick said this task force helps prepare his office to respond to recommendations from the UNC System General Administration, which come every two years.

“When we got the productivity review memo [from the General Administration], we knew what was coming,” Larick said.

The General Administration gives a list of ways to respond, Larick said, including elimination or changing the major so that it’s a concentration under another major. N.C. State can also argue that the major is necessary and shouldn’t be changed at all.

For example, the General Administration identified the Masters of Poultry Science degree as “low enrollment.” The program typically averages five to eight students.

“We responded by saying that because of the importance of the Poultry Industry to the state and given that N.C. State is the only university in North Carolina to offer this program, we need to keep it,” Larick said. “Also, it’s the right size, based on industry needs and interest levels.”

Another example is the Masters and Ph.D. Immunology programs, which were also labeled “low productivity” in 2012. Larick said the University decided to make Immunology a concentration underneath the Comparative Biomedical Sciences program.

Larick said the General Administration accepted both responses.

“We’ve been very proactive in updating our programs, and we continue to make decisions as to what to do next,” Larick said. “Science is continually progressing, and our job is to change the emphasis, curricula and training to keep ahead of industry need.”

Larick said that even if N.C. State decided to eliminate a major or program, it would utilize a “phase-out process.” With Immunology, for example, students will have the option to stay in the current major or switch to Comparative Biomedical Sciences during the transition process.

“We would never pull the plug and leave students hanging,” Larick said.

Despite declining interest in humanities and liberal arts programs across the United States, the General Administration only labeled two programs in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences as “low enrollment” in 2012. And technically, this was a mistake. French Language and Literature: Teacher Education and Spanish Language and Literature: Teacher Education were the only two CHASS majors on the 2012 list.

“We had already changed the Teacher Education programs to concentrations in the language and literature majors,” Larick said. “This was a mistake that was corrected in General Administrations academic inventory list.”