University leaders across Ohio are reacting to Governor Mike DeWine’s signing of Senate Bill 1 (SB1), which will reshape higher education across the state, including requiring universities to eliminate undergraduate programs that have conferred fewer than five degrees annually over any three-year period.
Bowling Green State University President Rodney Rogers released a statement indicating BGSU may be face changes, but the university agrees with how the language moves towards equality. Meanwhile, the University of Toledo eliminated nine degree programs in response to the new law and another dozen on recommendation of the Program Reallocation and Investment Committee, according to Dr. Scott Molitor, interim provost and executive vice president of academic affairs.
“It is important to keep our academic portfolio current with the degree programs our students want and that industry needs from their higher education partner,” Molitor said in a university statement.
According to the university, affected courses remain available as components for minors and certificates.
The undergraduate programs suspended to comply with Senate Bill 1 include: Bachelor of Arts in African Studies, Asian Studies, Data Analytics, Disability Studies, Middle East Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Spanish, and Women and Gender Studies.
The Ohio Capital Journal reported Ohio University will close Pride Center, the Women’s Center, and the Multicultural Center in response to the new education law.
Ohio University spokesperson Dan Pittman said there is no definitive date for the centers to close, but the centers will not be open beyond when the law takes place on June 23.
The university’s website includes this statement: “Work managed by the division that remains within the law will be moved to other areas of the university.”
“We must continue to ensure every person we invite to be a part of our university community finds their place here and develops connections,” Ohio University President Lori Stewart Gonzalez said in her letter to the university. “Without forgetting that essential commitment, we must also follow the law.”
