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Chancellor Peacock and Provost Gonzalez Announce Finalized Program Prioritization Plan at ASU

by Madison V. Fisler

March 6, 2014. In an email to faculty and staff of Appalachian State University on Tuesday, Chancellor Kenneth Peacock and Provost Lori Gonzalez announced the finalized decision on the university’s program prioritization plan. 

On Feb. 19, 2014. members of the Academic Policies and Procedures Committee (AP&P) made recommendations to the university concerning the future of programs offered at the institution, and in the email, the chancellor and provost affirmed the following recommendations put forth by the AP&P:

  1. Elimination of Masters of the Arts in Music Education
  2. Elimination of Master of Arts in Gerontology

The email announced that the university will additionally accept the following recommendations:

  1. Consolidation of Business Education, Family & Consumer Science and Technology Education into a single program (Career and Technical Education). Decisions about how these programs will be consolidated and where they will reside wil be made through discussions with the faculty of units and the deans of the respective colleges.
  2. Allowing the Master of Arts in Romance Languages to continue for two years. The conditions of this continuation will be established in consultation with the program, the graduate school and the dean.

According to the email, other recommendations will stand as presented including the elimination of the following programs:

  1. Master of Arts in History, Education
  2. Master of Arts in Child Development: Birth through Kindergarten
  3. Master of Sciences in Criminal Justice and Criminology. This program is recommended to serve as a concentration in the Master of Public Administration program. 

The email goes on to say that the plan will be shared with the ASU Board of Trustees, UNC System President Tom Ross and the Board of Governors. 

“The realities of the new era mean that we must succeed in different ways,” stated the email. “One of these ways is by more regular and prudent review of all our university activities and expenditures. We must prioritize, and a systematic schedule and process for academic program review must be part of our institutional strategy.” 

The Appalachian Academic Program Prioritization process began in December 2011, and then embarked on a two-year process of accumulating data, discussing issues, and reviewing outcomes and processes within the university. After the initial process, deans voted on their program priorities and those decisions were then shared with the campus community. 

To read more about the process, read our previous article on the consolidation here