Limbaugh presents Northern program review at public forum

At a relatively low-attended forum Friday, the chancellor of Montana State University-Northern presented his decisions on a lengthy process used to review and evaluate programs at the university.

Chancellor Jim Limbaugh, talking to about 40 or 50 people in Hensler Auditorium in the university’s Applied Technology Center, said his decisions are based on the “glorious” past of Northern, but are intended to transform and improve the university.

“This is part of an overarching program to turn this institution into what you want it to be,” he said.

Faculty and staff started reviewing programs in September — all 74 programs offered at Northern — and making recommendations on whether programs should be grown, maintained, put into a moratorium to look at ways to change and improve programs, or terminate them.

Limbaugh announced his decisions at a press conference last Tuesday, which include growing 19 programs, maintaining 25, reducing or integrating four into other programs, and placing into moratorium or eliminating 25 others. Limbaugh also identified three possible programs the university should look at creating.

He said Friday that the job description for the chancellor, when he applied for the position, included improving enrollment, which had declined or not grown for more than 10 years, improving residence halls and finding a new vision for the university.

He said taking that mission involved forcing people to look at leaving traditions of the university, and to look at ideas that would be out of their comfort zone.

“You asked me to do this,” Limbaugh said.

Discussion of secondary education

Much of the discussion Friday was about Limbaugh’s decision to eliminate secondary education teacher training, long a mainstay at Northern.

Lynn Hamilton, a former Montana Regent of Higher Education, asked what resources would be freed up, how much money the university would lose by not enrolling new students, and if it was holding itself to a higher standard than other Montana universities.

Hamilton said Northern traditionally had depended on a three-legged stool for funding, with the leg provided by education helping hold up the other two higher-cost programs of nursing and technology.

While Northern has low enrollment and graduation right now, she added, other campuses also have low numbers in education, but are maintaining those programs.

“You’re holding yourself to an extremely higher standard, in my mind, than other campuses are,” she said, adding that the other campuses also are not in Northern’s unique market and situation.

Limbaugh said the decision includes looking at enrollment and graduation numbers — something which the 2013 Legislature has included in future funding for Montana universities — but the decision included more than that.

Part of the decision was where the university should focus its resources, and where it should try to grow, he said. Another part was what are the students getting out of the program.

Christine Cremean-Shearer, dean of the College of Education, Arts and Sciences, and Nursing, said part of that question involves how many classmates do the secondary education students have, or do they even have classes. Some students were taking math classes as independent study, she said.

“That troubles me as someone from the outside coming in,” she said.

Limbaugh said, as far as freeing resources, one place will be in health and physical education. Those resources can be rolled into the growing nonteaching health promotion program.

As for other resources, he said, at this point he cannot give an exact figure.

“I don’t have a dollar amount right now, because this is an ongoing process,” he said.

He said the funding lost by eliminating future students in secondary education would be made up through growth in other programs.

Elimination versus moratorium

Denise Brewer, director of student activities at Northern, asked why Limbaugh decided to terminate the secondary education programs instead of putting them into a moratorium, in which the university would have up to three years to look at ways to revise and improve them.

She added that she heard students, who have since been told they would be able to complete their degrees, were called and told they would have to leave the university.

Limbaugh said neither his office nor the people in the review process ever told students that they would not be able to finish.

“That was a scurrilous rumor started to discredit this,” he said.

He said that, after looking at the data and what it would take to improve the programs, including making changes to match upcoming revisions in teacher certification requirements, he decided that it would be better to shift the resources to programs that could grow.

Cremean-Shearer said providing the best education to the students, including with certification requirements, also is part of that equation in secondary education and in all programs.

“Are we giving them the services they need … are we channeling the resources there,” she said. “If you look at the figures, we have to do better.”

Limbaugh also said rumors that he was ordered to cut secondary education by people at the Montana State University flagship campus in Bozeman are false. He made the decision once reviewing all of the data and recommendations, he said.

“So, be mad at me, friends and neighbors,” Limbaugh said.

He also went against the recommendations of some doing the eight-month review.

While all four recommendations for secondary education mathematics were for eliminating the program, only one, the dean/chair recommendation, was for eliminating secondary education English or science.

For English, the Academic Council and Provost Rosalyn Templeton recommended a moratorium, while the Academic Senate made no recommendation. For general science, the Academic Senate recommended maintaining the program and the provost and Academic Council recommended placing it in a moratorium.

The recommendations on the other secondary education programs generally was to maintain the programs.

Shearer-Cremean also said people should not lump the six secondary education programs together — they all are separate programs with separate curriculum.

And, Limbaugh said, as Northern goes through the lengthy process to terminate programs, place programs in moratorium for revision and grow or create new programs, things could change.

‘I said terminate, but there’s still that little door open there,” he said.

Recruitment and recertification

Another aspect of cutting secondary education was recruitment. Head football coach Mark Samson asked if recruitment would have to change, while head wrestling coach Tyson Thyvierge asked if another time could have been selected — recruits already have signed for next year, before the announcement was made.

Limbaugh said, regardless of what time the decision was made and announced, someone would have been unhappy. The time frame used fits a window to fit into the schedule of the Board of Regents, he said.

As for recruitment style, that already is being addressed at Northern, he said. The university has worked intensively in the last year-and-a-half to change its recruitment policies and techniques, along with updating its website and admissions.

Northern professor emeritus Bill Thackeray asked if the change would hurt teacher recertification. Many local teachers come to Northern to earn credits to stay certified, he said.

Shearer-Cremean and Virginia Braithwaite, Northern’s director of field and clinical experiences/licensure officer, both said that certification credits would still be available both on campus on online.

Shearer-Cremean said some teachers might have to take credits outside of their content area, but also that content in most every field should still be available.

Looking to grow programs, help students

Terry Lilletvedt asked what the changes would do to help students looking for a job — she specifically asked about two new proposed programs, border studies and rural futures studies.

Limbaugh said much of the review focuses on growing areas with good growth for job potential, such as the new criminal justice degree, nursing, civil technology and the diesel, automotive and farm technology programs.

The proposals for new programs — and Limbaugh stressed that this is the first step to even look at new programs — both provide potential for jobs, and also helps the university meet its obligation to provide research and improve knowledge.