Northern moves ahead on refocusing

The leadership of Havre’s university is saying that the release of the results of a review of programs is the first step in a long process of refocusing its resources to improve its mission of providing an “Education that Works.”

“This is but an initial foray into what we’re going to do to recast the institution,” Montana State University-Northern Chancellor Jim Limbaugh said during a press conference Tuesday. “Just because we said this doesn’t mean that, OK, well, we’re done, because the hard work really begins now.”

The university began an extensive review in September of all 74 programs it offers. Limbaugh said he is not aware of any university-wide review done anywhere else in the state.

He formed an academic council comprising Provost Rosalyn Templeton, Dean of the College of Education, Arts and Sciences, and Nursing Christine Shearer-Cremean, Dean of the College of Technical Sciences Greg Kegel, department chairs and faculty. That council oversaw a review of all programs, with the faculty and staff of each program doing a self-study and recommendations, the deans and chairs making recommendations and the provost making recommendations.

Once those recommendations were received, the council compiled its report and sent it to Limbaugh. He then drafted his decisions and gave them back for review.

The decisions include proposing three new programs at the institution, working to grow 19 programs and placing 25 into moratoriums or terminating them.

Limbaugh said he wanted to congratulate the work Northern’s faculty, administration and staff did to produce the review, adding that the teams cloistered themselves away for hours and days having a very serious discussion about the programs and what is best for Northern’s students, the community and the region.

“That’s how we go to this point, is they took their roles as educators very seriously and said, ‘What’s in the best interests of the students?’” he said. “And I think if we celebrate anything in this process, it’s the fact that we have true educators in our midst who understand what we need to do for our students.”

The review is intended to position Northern for the future. With high and increasing competition for students in higher education, as well as changing situations in the world environment, Northern had to look at changes, Limbaugh said.

“We knew, as an institution, after 10 years of declining enrollment, we had to do something to carve out a niche,” Limbaugh said, adding that studies have shown “that those institutions that identify a niche, that identify signature programs that take advantage of their faculty, their resources, their location and their region, are the institutions that are successful.”

Recasting the role, and mindset, of the university

Limbaugh said a question that has arisen is how much, how many dollars, of resources will be freed up by the changes.

“We don’t know yet,” he said, adding that the first resource that needs to be shifted is attitude.

“We’re going through a shifting of cultural resources, if you will, getting the campus to think differently about programs it offers, to think about the importance of being nimble, the importance of being able to respond to the environment which we serve, to the community in which we are located. “I think that’s the most important kind of resource reallocation is our mindset.”

He said the review and changes planned are part of a long-term strategic decision.

“The reality, is, yeah, we’re closing programs, but for 19 programs we say we can strategically grow them … ,” Limbaugh said. “Businesses make certain decisions and cut product lines. If you want to have a very crass analogy, that’s what we’re doing.”

No jobs, students, cut

Limbaugh added that shifting resources doesn’t mean firing employees.

As programs evolve and faculty leave due to retirement or taking other jobs, positions might be eliminated through attrition, Limbaugh said.

“There is no discussion about anybody losing their job as a result of this. This is a gradual process and part of the natural flow of the organization. Shifting of resources does not mean firing people.”

The changes also will not cut students out of programs, he said — in moratoriums, no new students are accepted, but enrolled students will complete the program.

At the end of the moratorium, the results of the study of the program will lead to proposals to revise and re-open the program, or close it at that point.

Growing, improving,

creating programs

Kegel said part of the issue is helping programs that are over-enrolled as compared to other programs that are under-enrolled. He said the review looked at each program, not simply in terms of number of students but also in how well it prepares the students, and how greatly it is needed in the area. The university has to balance that out, he said.

Every program takes resources, no matter how many students, in personnel, classroom and lab space, supplies and equipment, he said.

“That’s what we’re doing here, looking at some programs that might have outgrown themselves. There just isn’t a need for them today, and what we’re trying to do here is shift those resources, from equipment instrumentation, supplies and personnel to programs that are more robust.”

Shearer-Cremean agreed.

“We have to slough off some programs that are ineffective in order to make room,” she said. “We know we can grow programs here.”

An example is Northern’s new criminal justice program. She said it went from 12 students enrolled last September to nearly 50 now — an increase of 400 percent in four months.

Other programs, like the elementary education and nursing programs, also could grow significantly if the resources were available, she said.

In her college, Shearer-Cremean said, the issue is two-fold. Because it provides the general education requirements for all students, that has to be addressed and improved, particularly for the large number of first-generation college students who often face additional challenges. Along with addressing that, the programs themselves need to be examined.

Kegel said his college also has significant opportunity for growth. For example, the diesel, automotive and farm technology departments could grow significantly, once new facilities are completed, and need to grow, he said.

“We don’t have enough kids,” he said. “We have 50 kids graduating and 1,000 openings.”

A collaborative model

Shearer-Cremean said the program review has given her an additional benefit — she knows how the programs in the College of Technical Sciences work because of the review, and how her programs and Kegel’s programs can work together.

“We’re not in silos any more,” she added.

That interdepartmental cooperation is crucial in the modern world, she said. Modern employers are looking for people with a wide range of technical skills, but they also are looking for people with other skills like interpersonal and communications abilities

“So our two colleges have to engage with each other in order to prepare students for what things are like today,” Shearer-Cremean.said.

She said one of the new programs proposed would tie perfectly into that.

Limbaugh has proposed both a border studies program to look at issues pertinent to Northern’s close location to the U.S.-Canadian border, and a program to study the future of rural America including reviving the North American Futures Institute.

He said the proposal can both provide education for students — and he said the rural studies program could be very successful — and also meet the university’s obligation to contribute to the region and to research.

“We are a university, and as such we need to look at our responsibility to contribute to the base of knowledge,” he said. “We are, arguably, the most rural university in the United States, and I think we need to celebrate that, to recognize that to take advantage of that and contribute to research in the field.”

Shearer-Cremean said the program and NARFI could make significant contributions in a variety of fields, and would tie all the programs at Northern together. The activity in the Bakken oil fields is one example, she said.

“We have to start addressing the impact the Bakken development is going to have, and not just in terms of industry, but in terms of the sociological impact, demographics, education, the environment, water quality, geographical things, health, and so the center is a place where every single unit can engage and participate,” she said.

Limbaugh added that Northern has the ability to do that kind of work, citing the nationally recognized work the university’s Bio-Energy Center has done in fuel testing and fuel and alternative fuel research as an example.

“So the folks who say that our geographical location limits us are short-sighted in their comments,” he said. “In today’s world, you can do anything anywhere. The people who are successful take advantage of that.”

Making hard choices and moving forward

Limbaugh said focusing on programs being cut is the wrong way to look at the changes. The intent is to provide the best education possible for the students and for the region, he said.

“If you dig into that you will see what we are doing … is a significant cleanup,” he said, adding that many of the programs being cut have not graduated students in years, but are still on the books.

Shearer-Cremean said cutting the secondary education programs — many of the groups in the review recommended maintaining some programs and revising others, as well as cutting some high school teacher programs — again, is a strategic decision.

Northern is not the only school providing teachers to the Hi-Line high schools, and she has had few requests for high school teachers, she said.

Another issue is the need to significantly revise the programs, she added. The state Office of Public Instruction is moving to more stringent testing standards and practical experience requirements in its certification process.

“I am not sure that we really have the resources to do that,” she said, adding, “The curriculum is antiquated and needs substantial revision for, really, not very many students.”

Limbaugh emphasized that the decisions, again, are just the start of the process. Now the work has to begin on paperwork to put programs into moratoriums or terminate them, begin the planning process on revising programs, begin researching and drafting proposals to create new programs, and starting the planning on how, in the future, to begin shifting resources to grow existing programs.

“It’s not like, OK, we’re going to do this next weekend and everybody will be happy,” he said. “This will take several years, but what it provides is a roadmap.”