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Key Takeaways
- UNC-Chapel Hill will close six internationally focused academic centers as part of a $7 million cost-cutting initiative approved by the UNC Board of Trustees, accounting for a significant portion of a larger restructuring that affects 14 of 59 centers.
- The closures include the Center for European Studies, the African Studies Center, and others, chosen based on factors like return on investment and alignment with university priorities.
- Faculty and academics express strong concerns about the impact of these closures, which they believe will diminish students' interdisciplinary education and access to resources, while one expert defends the cuts as necessary for financial stability.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will shutter six internationally focused academic centers as part of a broader cost-cutting initiative approved by the UNC Board of Trustees.
Nathan Knuffman, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s chief financial officer, said the university plans to reduce $7 million in spending over the next several years, with an expected $3 million in “near-term savings,” according to The Daily Tar Heel.
In an effort to accomplish these cuts, the school is shuttering a total of 14 of its 59 centers and institutes, including all six of its area research centers, the school newspaper reported.
Those research initiatives include the Center for European Studies, the African Studies Center, the Carolina Asia Center, the Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies, the Institute for the Study of the Americas, and the Center for Slavic, Eurasian and East European Studies.
In choosing which programs to cut, administrators considered “a center’s return on investment, how its mission and history align with the chancellor’s priorities, its research, service and instructional outputs, its ‘metrics of success’ and considerations about units with special BOT, legislative or public interest priorities,” Knuffman said, according to the school newspaper.
University officials have stated there are no explicit plans to shut down any other centers in the health, education, business, technology, environment, or infrastructure disciplines. The resolution also encourages administrations and centers to integrate programs into existing departments.
Roberts said, “The cost of everything that we do is going up,” and described the restructuring as an opportunity to strengthen the university’s long-term position.
The College Fix asked for comment from Political Science Professor Gary Marks, the founding director of the Center for European Studies and the European Union Center for Excellence at UNC-CH.
Marks said that he, along with other members of the Center for European Studies advisory board, the Transatlantic Master’s program advisory board, and former center leaders, sent a letter to university leadership, expressing concerns about the “unsettlement” of the six programs.
“We understand that CES provides the space and resources to publish works that mark us as leaders in our respective fields,” they wrote.
They also wrote that the center bridges departmental boundaries, encouraging interdisciplinary scholarship, teaching, and programming that strengthens the university and reaches 25,000 students each year.
Further, they added that the closure of CES will cut off prestigious awards and external funding opportunities, limiting graduate students and professors.
Academics and faculty from institutions across the country also expressed their support for the centers and their concerns regarding the department cuts in letters to the university.
Sophie Meunier, director of the European Union Program at Princeton University, views the closure as detrimental to UNC.
“Area studies centers provide students with interdisciplinary training, language support, study abroad opportunities, and access to visiting scholars that cannot be replicated through departmental structures alone,” Meunier wrote.
She added that “students seeking rigorous engagement with European politics, economics, history, and culture will find fewer opportunities at UNC, making competing institutions more attractive.”
However, Jenna Robinson with nonprofit think tank the John Locke Foundation, told The College Fix that only a limited number of students and faculty will be affected.
She believes interdisciplinary work can continue without these area studies centers.
When asked about her thoughts on the driving force of these cuts, Robinson said, “Anticipated funding for next year is very tight. These cuts are part of a larger project to create a responsible budget for UNC.”
“Administrators should prioritize serving students, responsibly stewarding investments, and fulfilling the mission,” she said.
The College Fix contacted the UNC Board of Trustees for comment via email but did not receive a response.
