Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 12, 1994 TAG: 9411140063
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The plan also calls for a 10 percent cut in all administrative budgets over the next three years. Two programs - undergraduate dance and master's in chemistry - will be placed on probation for three years.
The board's vote ends a process that began more than a year ago, when a 25-member committee met for the first time to begin reviewing the college's programs.
Programs to be phased out include master's degrees in English, government, mathematics, sociology, taxation and laws of taxation. Three educational specialist programs also will be eliminated. Intercollegiate sports to be cut are fencing and wrestling.
According to Rector James Murray, the vote is the beginning of another long process.
``We've just started,'' Murray said. ``What we've adopted today is just a piece of paper. We have to implement it.''
That may not be easy. On Oct. 26, the college's 24-member faculty assembly unanimously voted to refuse to endorse the plan and the process behind it.
While they did not discuss specific points of the plan, the assembly voiced concern that faculty members were not more involved in the process.
``We were very surprised,'' said Monica Potcay, director of the master's program in English. ``We felt things were stacked against us - that the quality of our program was not considered, when people across the country consider us one of the best.''
Committee members said the decision to eliminate certain programs was difficult and was based on consultation with faculty and students. They said the cuts were aimed at maintaining the excellence of the undergraduate program and strengthening selected graduate programs.
``We have a limited number of dollars,'' Murray said. ``To sell stock in a company doesn't mean it's a bad company.''
Provost Gillian Cell, head of the committee that drafted the 51-page plan, said she would begin to assemble an implementation committee next week.
Sophomore Kristen Campbell said that undergraduates are pleased with the plan but are concerned about the loss of the two athletic programs.
Campbell said students also are worried that the decision to increase the freshman class from 1,240 to 1,920 by 1996 would lessen the school's prestige.
William and Mary's plan was approved Tuesday by the State Council of Higher Education, which had fielded restructuring proposals from all of Virginia's state-supported schools.
by CNB