ATHENS, Ohio — Ohio University may eliminate a number of majors and is drafting new tenure, performance evaluations and faculty workload policies — driven by Ohio law and the Advance Ohio Higher Education Act, commonly known as Senate Bill 1.
The Ohio Revised Code requires universities to eliminate low-enrollment majors and courses, and avoid major/course duplication with nearby universities. OU’s standard for low enrollment varies by the campus and course level, with 1000- and 2000-level classes having a higher minimum enrollment than 3000- and 4000-level classes.
Section 3345.35 of the Ohio Revised Code requires that Ohio University use the chancellor minimum threshold, an alternative, more strict measure that examines average enrollment over a period of time. The university is required to submit an annual report to the Ohio Department of Higher Education each year detailing plans for major duplication, low enrollment majors and low enrollment courses.
When evaluating majors the university uses a chancellor minimum enrollment threshold of five degrees annually over a three year period.
“The Chancellor defines low enrollment courses as course sections that fall below 120% of the minimum University-defined threshold over two or more semesters during the period of review,” OU spokesperson Samantha Pelham told the Independent in an email.
At its Aug. 6 meeting, the Ohio University Board of Trustees viewed a list of 357 low-enrollment courses across the university, including regional campuses. Of those, 264 courses will be maintained because they are cost-effective or are required for degree accreditation or for certain degrees.
Ninety-three courses remain. Fourty-one will be eliminated; they include classes in film, theater, consumer science, biology, chemistry and health sciences. The remaining 52 courses will be offered less often, undergo curriculum changes, or have combined class sections.
In it’s analysis OU identified 109 majors with low enrollment. Most of those majors will be retained with no changes, as their coursework is required for other degrees and thus the actual majors aren’t an additional cost for the university. Another 33 majors will undergo changes to coursework or offerings to boost enrollment.
The report presented to the board of trustees listed 11 majors to be phased out:
- Associate degree in accounting technology.
- Associate degree in environmental engineering technology.
- Associate degree in office administration technology.
- Bachelor of arts in art.
- Bachelor of science in athletic training.
- Bachelor of science in customer service.
- Bachelor of arts in German.
- Bachelor of science in family studies.
- Bachelor of arts in Russian.
- Master of science in apparel, textiles and merchandising.
- Master of science in cardiovascular perfusion.
- Master of education in critical studies in education.
According to Pelham, these majors were already in the process of graduating current students and not admitting any future students prior to the passage of SB1. The only program identified for elimination due to duplication with a nearby university is Bachelor of science in athletic training that is currently inactive, according to the report presented to the board of trustees.
Meanwhile, SB1 requires that Ohio universities eliminate majors that graduate fewer than five people annually over a three-year period. In August, Ohio University shared it’s plans to eliminate low enrollment majors as required by SB1.
OU has identified 36 majors that do not meet SB1’s mandate, half of these majors will be merged with related majors. As an example, Ohio University offers six Bachelor of music degrees, in the future it will be one degree with six concentration areas.
The university has requested a waiver for seven programs, as they meet a workforce needs of the state or are in unique circumstances. Lastly, the university plans to eliminate 11 programs by stopping future admissions and allowing current students to graduate out. Additionally, many of these programs will continued to be offered in a different format, for instance the Bachelor of science in chemistry will still be offered.
- Bachelor of arts in chemistry
- Bachelor of arts in geological sciences
- Bachelor of arts in mathematics
- Bachelor of arts in physics
- Associate of applied science in electronic media
- Associate of applied science in equine studies
- Bachelor of science in education in family and consumer sciences education in teaching
- Associate of applied science in child development
- Associate of applied science in aviation flight technology
- Bachelor of fine arts in interdisciplinary arts
- Associate of individualized studies
OU Associate Professor of History John O’Keefe, who is also director of communications for United Academics of Ohio University, told the Independent that these major and course eliminations could harm the student experience and may be linked with faculty cuts that occurred in past years.
“This is eroding curricular and intellectual diversity of the university,” O’Keefe said.
O’Keefe said that courses and majors with low enrollment could be attributed to the loss of faculty positions.
Tenure, tenure review and performance evaluations
In addition to the low-enrollment courses and majors elimination, SB1 also requires Ohio universities and colleges to implement policies around faculty workloads, performance evaluations, faculty retrenchment/restructuring and various aspects of the tenure process. Draft versions of all these policies were in a 30-day comment period that ended Sept. 20, the Independent downloaded copies of these proposed policies and have linked to them below.
The draft version of the faculty workload policy defines a full-time workload as 30 credit hours per academic year, roughly 15 hours per semester or the equivalent of teaching five undergraduate courses. However, wiggle room is built into the policy, as faculty are expected to do some amount of research and service as part of their position that can count toward the 30 credit hours.
Furthermore, the draft policy allows colleges and academic departments to consider class sizes, grading, academic services (such as graduate student research committees), class preparation and more, when calculating workload.
As for faculty performance evaluations, SB1 requires the board of trustees at all Ohio colleges and universities to adopt a formal performance evaluation policy.
OU departments and colleges already had performance evaluation policies prior to the passage of SB1, according to Rachel Terman, an associate professor in the sociology department and faculty union member.
The current draft version of the policy requires evaluations “assess performance in any area where the faculty member has devoted at least five per cent of their annual work time, including teaching, research/scholarship/creative activity, service, clinical care, administration, and other categories as determined by the university.” The draft policy allows administrators to assign one of three categories: exceeds expectations, meets expectations or doesn’t meet expectations.
Additionally, SB1 requires that student evaluations count for at least 25% of performance reviews.
According to O’Keefe, this has caused some concern among faculty, especially because SB1 requires that questions about classroom bias be added to student evaluations.
“That means faculty have to give a lot more time and energy to talking about what is bias? What does that mean?” O’Keefe said. “[We have to make] sure that students understand and are clear about how to answer that question fairly, right? One issue that we’ve seen with the shift to online evaluations is [that] fewer students are filling out evaluations. They’re generally only filling out evaluations if they had a really great experience in the class, or when they had a really bad experience in the class.”
Adding to the concern is the post-tenure review policy, a new measure introduced by SB1 which can result in formal write-ups, suspensions or terminations of tenured faculty. A post-tenure review is triggered if a faculty member fails to meet expectations in a performance evaluation category for two years in a row, fails to meet expectations again within two years of a post-tenure review, or can be initiated at anytime by an administrator if “the faculty member has a documented, sustained record of significant underperformance outside the annual evaluation process.”
“The post tenure review adds an additional layer of bureaucratic process to review people, in addition to the route to the annual merit reviews that we already do for all faculty,” Terman said.
Retrenchment is the word used to describe a university restructuring that reduces programs, including the elimination of majors, minors and certificates. According to the current draft policy, the university will be able to initiate the retrenchment process as a result of a reduction in students, a reduction in budget or other fiscal pressures, or a change to the university’s mission.
According to Terman, the previous retrenchment policy stated that the university would work with the faculty senate to identify positions to be eliminated. This lines up with what is in the 2025 Ohio University Faculty Handbook that states a retrenchment committee will be formed “composed of an equal number of deans and representatives from the faculty senate.”
Under the new policy, the Ohio University Board of Trustees would have “final authority and discretion” when it comes to retrenchment decisions.
“For us as faculty, our role as educators and mentors to students is essential in fulfilling the mission of the university, and we take that educational mission very seriously,” Terman said. “We should be part of any major decisions affecting the educational mission. So this change in how the board of trustees is approaching retrenchment is very concerning.”
American Civics Literacy
OU is still working to implement a required course on American civics literacy. In that legally required course, students would read the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” five essays from the Federalist Papers, and writings by the economist Adam Smith.
In its submission to the Ohio Department of Higher Education, the board of trustees wrote that the course will be offered by multiple departments and will align with a general education credit that the university requires.
O’Keefe told the Independent that he thinks there is some flexibility for instructors to customize the course and incorporate additional texts.
“The required texts, for the most part, would be something that students would already be encountering in the first half of a U.S. history survey,” O’Keefe said. “There was discussion about using that U.S. history survey and making sure that all those texts were included within it to [create the class.] That was what seemed like the clearest path for creating a class, if it were to come out of the history department.”
Additionally, the application mentions that students will be required to take a cumulative final exam in order to pass the course. Students who pass the class but do not receive a passing grade will be able to retake the exam the following semester.
According to O’Keefe, students having to take a cumulative exam to pass a class and that exam overriding the rest of their coursework is unusual.
“How would that work out on our campuses, especially because testing centers get crowded at certain times of the year?” O’Keefe said. “We don’t want to overload the testing centers, especially if every single student in the University is going to take this class.”
Student and faculty recruitment
Another concern for faculty when it comes to SB1 is that it will make it more difficult for the university to recruit and retain faculty and students. Terman pointed to the removal of diversity, equity and inclusion services as negatively impacting the student experience,
“I think that many of the changes that have already been swiftly put in place, including the closure of our multicultural center, our Women’s Center and our Pride Center, [are] very concerning in terms of the support that’s available for students,” Terman said.
OU’s closure of its Division of Diversity and Inclusion eliminated 21 positions.
Both Terman and O’Keefe told the Independent that they both know faculty who have left the university because of SB1 or are actively looking for employment elsewhere.
“We’ve lost really great faculty because of this legislation,” Terman said.
Editors Note: This story was updated on 9/26/2025 to reflect that the major duplication and low enrollment analysis presented to the Ohio University Board of Trustees in August is required by Section 3345.35 of the Ohio Revised Code and not SB1. More information was added about Ohio University’s plans to eliminate low enrollment majors as required by SB1.
