Chemeketa Community College is the first to offer an ‘applied’ baccalaureate this fall. Legislators are already considering an expansion to what the colleges can offer.
Cuts Hit Faculty, Philosophy at Western Oregon
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Western Oregon University has notified some faculty members of layoffs amid cost-cutting efforts that include the elimination of its philosophy major and minor, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.
The public university in Monmouth, in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, plans to lay off four tenured professors in the cuts, which will also affect the equivalent of 11 nontenured faculty members through layoffs or class reductions, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. A collective bargaining agreement requires those being laid off to be employed for another year.
The cuts come shortly after more than 50 staff members were laid off or didn’t have their contracts renewed. They follow a task force plan to eliminate programs like philosophy, anthropology and geography, as well as some other master’s programs, certificates and minors. University leaders attribute the cuts to low or declining enrollment in affected programs.