Ohio University’s course catalog is about to get a little thinner.
Five courses taught at OU will be discontinued as part of a statewide cut to funding for remedial classes.
Funding for those courses — UC 110 and 112, MATH 101 and 102, and ENG 150, which is only offered at OU’s branch campuses — will be scaled back by 2015 and eliminated by 2020, according to the state budget implemented by then-Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland in 2007.
Some universities, including Kent State, Wright State and Miami, have begun to solve the problem caused by the loss of remedial classes. Wright State has already built partnerships with neighboring community colleges that offer remedial classes. Miami has cut remedial courses from its Oxford campus and kept remedial classes at its regional campuses, a plan OU will most likely follow.
“What concerns us the most is students who are not prepared for college classes and are not exposed to college-level reading,” said Cynthia King, OU’s associate dean for student academic advancement and executive director of the Academic Advancement Center. “Without (ENG 150) on campus, students might be struggling with strategics, and this is always a concern. At this point, we haven’t changed the curriculum. We are going to have a discussion, but we have not heard from administration.”
OU would most likely eliminate remedial classes from OU’s Athens campus and cut the number of remedial classes offered at branch campuses, King said.
King said the state legislature was concerned that not all high-school students will have the tools for success once they leave high school and enter college-level classes.
“These students have a potential for success, but that needs to be developed,” she said.
But not all OU students are convinced that cutting courses in the basics is wise.
“Some people might need those classes,” said Nick Schulte, a freshman whose major is undecided. “They provide people with a chance to go to college classes and learn at a college level.”
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