Kara Klamm had a panic attack at the beginning of the semester when she discovered that two of her classes were canceled.
Klamm, education senior, found out her classes were canceled a week before the semester started.
“The school should have made that decision earlier,” Klamm said. “This is my last semester of classes, so having two of my classes get canceled gave me a panic attack.”
Klamm was able to work with her adviser to fix her schedule and stay on track for graduation.
The classes were canceled because they had fewer than 10 students enrolled in them.
The prioritization report recommends that class sizes be at least 10 students because less than that means losing money. Prioritization is the process in which university officials can evaluate where money is spent in every department.
Administrators didn’t decide to close classes until a week before school started because they hoped enrollment would increase, said Kent Buchanan, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs.
“It seemed like it was kind of last minute, but this has happened in the past,” he said. “It’s just unfortunate, but we’re going to do better in the future letting students know earlier.”
Buchanan wants to be more responsible in these trying times, he said.
“The main thing is that we are not putting students out,” Buchanan said. “We’re going to make sure the students get as good of quality in education as we can provide for them.”
The Higher Learning Commission requires the university to finish teaching majors to current students if the major is removed. The university also will work with current students to finish a minor if it is removed.
“This class cancellation process has been going on for some time, it just hasn’t been enforced to the same level as it is now,” Buchanan said. “In fact, it’ll be even more strictly enforced in the future.”
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