University Of Maine weighs cutting a Spanish master’s as hockey season hits a win-or-go-home moment

At the university of maine, two high-visibility storylines are unfolding at the same time: faculty governance is moving to end one graduate degree and pause another undergraduate program, while the men’s hockey team enters a win-or-go-home playoff game Friday night in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

What did the Faculty Senate vote to change at the university of maine?

On Wednesday, a representative body of faculty members at the University of Maine’s Orono campus voted in favor of eliminating a master’s degree and suspending a bachelor’s degree. The votes followed similar changes affecting 10 other programs at campuses across the University of Maine System during this fiscal year.

Faculty Senate members overwhelmingly passed a resolution to eliminate the master of arts in teaching Spanish. Senate members noted it was the University of Maine System’s only Spanish master’s degree. The resolution cited low enrollment and included support from Spanish language faculty.

The group also passed a resolution to suspend for three years a medical laboratory sciences bachelor’s degree that has not been enrolling students for a number of years. Mary Jean Sedlock, a Faculty Senate member and co-chair of the Program Creation and Reorganization Review Committee, described the committee’s role as reviewing proposals to cut, reorganize, or add academic programs. After the three-year suspension period, the medical laboratory sciences program will be reviewed for possible elimination.

Further approvals are required before either change takes effect. The process next moves to the provost and the University of Maine president for review and endorsement. Then, the provost and presidents of all campuses in the system will need to weigh in. After that, the changes will be reviewed by the chancellor and ultimately approved or denied by the University of Maine System Board of Trustees.

University of Maine System spokesperson Samantha Warren said the board of trustees will likely discuss the issue at its next full meeting in May (ET).

Why is the Spanish master’s being eliminated, and what happens to Spanish study?

Emily Haddad, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, called the decision “unfortunate” for the reasons discussed at the Senate meeting, while also describing it as an appropriate decision based on demand for the program.

Haddad said enrollment in the master’s degree in how to teach Spanish has been historically low. Over the past five years, she said, enrollment ranged from zero to three students each year. She also said that, typically, a master’s in teaching includes a pathway for students to become licensed to teach in K-12 schools, but this particular master’s in teaching did not offer that pathway.

Haddad said students will still be able to study Spanish. She described undergraduate enrollment for the Spanish minor as “very healthy, ” and said the number of students selecting Spanish as their major is “steady. ” She said she does not foresee reopening a Spanish master’s degree in the future.

Carlos Villacorta-Gonzales, chair of the department of modern languages and classics, declined an interview request.

What’s next for the medical laboratory sciences bachelor’s, and what else is changing in the system?

The medical laboratory sciences bachelor’s degree is slated for a three-year suspension under the Faculty Senate resolution, with a review for possible elimination after the suspension period ends. Sedlock said the proposal reflects a program that has not been enrolling students for a number of years.

Sedlock also said that no changes will result in the elimination of faculty or the closure of a department.

Efforts to reach leadership about the medical laboratory sciences program did not produce comment: neither the chair of the Department of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences nor the dean of the College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences could be reached.

These Orono-campus votes fit into a broader pattern of restructuring across the University of Maine System. The board of trustees has approved 10 other program suspensions and eliminations within the past fiscal year. Those changes included degrees in cybersecurity, English, liberal arts, and French at the University of Maine in Augusta, the University of Maine at Fort Kent, and the University of Southern Maine.

At the same time, UMaine athletics is in a pivotal window. The University of Maine Black Bears and Boston College Eagles meet for Hockey East playoff action at 7 p. m. Friday (ET) in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The winner advances to the conference semifinals next weekend at TD Garden in Boston. Boston College is hosting UMaine at the Conte Forum, with the matchup broadcast on NESN and also available on + and paid streaming services such as Fubo.

In the Hockey East conference tournament, Boston College is the No. 4 team and UMaine is the No. 5 seed. UMaine enters the game with an 18-13-3 overall record and a 4-1-1 mark in its last six games. Boston College is 19-14-1 and has lost four straight games. In November, the teams split a regular-season series at Boston College: the Eagles won the first game 7-3, and the Black Bears won the next night 3-0.

For the university of maine, the coming weeks bring a different kind of “advance or stop” decision-making: a trustees’ discussion in May (ET) that could determine whether the academic program votes become final, even as the Black Bears’ postseason path is decided shift by shift on Friday night.