Our View: Universities must make tough choices

The University of Idaho started re-examining programs well before the state's economy tanked.

The list of cuts and consolidations - announced Tuesday - has been years in the making. But as it turns out, they are well-timed.

This year, Gov. Butch Otter has proposed a higher education budget that is down $28 million from the original budget approved less than a year ago. If this doesn't encourage tough decision-making, nothing will.

The recession reinforces a simple reality. Universities must strategize.

The U of I has targeted 41 degree programs, each with a tradition and a constituency.

But do these programs meet the needs of high-school graduates and would-be research partners? A university would be remiss if it left the question unasked, in deference to a convenient status quo.

U of I officials have gone about asking the question in a painstaking, patient manner. They have been engaged in strategic planning for about three years. University officials are also asking for new ideas, and have 74 formal proposals from faculty and staff, interim president Steven Daley-Laursen said last week.

But in order to free up staff and dollars for innovation, the university may have to do without other programs, from a bachelor's degree in German to a master's degree in physical education. They have targeted degree programs that cost too much, attract too few students, or fail to meet a long-range need in Idaho higher education.

University officials are doing exactly what many taxpayers demand. They are weighing costs against benefits, as a smart business would. A sensible approach, in good times or bad.

The difference is, a university elicits an emotional loyalty that few businesses can match. Faculty, alumni and donors - invested in and devoted to a program - will fight for its survival. This happened in 2005, when the State Board of Education revived the U of I's College of Art and Architecture, responding to lobbying from faculty, students and alumni.

Daley-Laursen acknowledges that the latest round of proposed cuts could run into a backlash. He also says he is undaunted. As an interim president - who said, in a Statesman editorial board meeting last week, that he is preparing for a job search - perhaps he can afford to take a somewhat dispassionate view.

Regardless, U of I has gone through a process, involving its provost and deans, to identify the best ways to streamline the university. The university community will - and should - have its chance to argue against the recommendations. But let's all be realistic. Universities will have to make tradeoffs, getting rid of some outmoded programs to introduce or augment badly needed programs. The health of higher education depends on it - as does the state's economic health.

Idaho's three universities are at different stages in the process.

Boise State University has delayed a master's degree in community and regional planning and a Ph.D. in public policy. Both were identified in strategic planning as programs that fit BSU's long-term urban research mission.

At Idaho State University, officials are working on a strategic planning process, but haven't yet targeted programs for closure. This, of course, is when the job gets tough - when administrators target well-run programs that don't fit a long-term strategy, or programs that enjoy powerful community or alumni backing. "That can be a touchy situation," said Steve Adkison, ISU's associate vice president for academic programming and review, "but it's got to take place."

University leaders have known this for years. In 2004, regional accreditors cautioned ISU and U of I to keep their focus and guard against "unplanned growth," said Adkison. Now, the universities have to make difficult priority-setting decisions - and convince faculty, supporters and alumni to buy in. A recession should, but won't necessarily, make this job easier.

"Our View" is the editorial position of the Idaho Statesman. It is an unsigned opinion expressing the consensus of the Statesman's editorial board. To comment on an editorial or suggest a topic, e-mail editorial@idahostatesman.com.