USU announces majors proposed to be cut under new Utah law
LOGAN, Utah () — Utah State University has of the academic programs it could be discontinuing due to a 2025 bill taking effect starting May 7, 2025. While this bill will impact all higher education institutions across Utah, USU is the first to announce a potential change in academic programs.
requires 'each degree-granting institution to create a strategic reinvestment plan to reallocate funding from certain programs and divisions of the institution to certain programs and divisions that merit additional investment,' according to the text of the bill.
Governor Spencer Cox on March 26, 2025. It will go into effect on May 7 of this year.
In a from former USU President Elizabeth R. Cantwell, she said, 'We are actively working to mitigate the impact of these potential reductions on our students and our core teaching and research missions. However, adjustments of this magnitude will necessitate difficult decisions regarding academic programs.'
MORE USU NEWS: Utah State University now in 'substantial compliance' with DOJ agreement over Title IX violations
On Friday, USU's Interim President Alan L. Smith to all employees.
'We have not yet finalized reinvestment decision-making tied to our proposal. However, we anticipate pursuing new or amplified structures that foreground artificial intelligence and computing, health disciplines, student success, and graduate education throughout our statewide system,' Smith said in the message.
Smith also shared that there would be some structural changes to existing departments, saying that the College of Humanities and Social Sciences will be merging eight departments into six, the Department of Geosciences will join with the Natural Resources and Agriculture department, and the Engineering Education Department will be discontinued.
'Decisions to discontinue educational activities have been based on an iterative process that involved considering the span of data aligned with HB 265, contextual information offered through the deans and your feedback, and our anticipated strategic directions for reinvestment,' he stated.
Here is a complete list of academic programs, degrees, and certificates that are being discontinued.
Agriculture Communication, Bachelor's Degree
ASL Interpretation, Emphasis
ASL / Deaf Education Teacher Prep Program, Bachelor's Degree
Community and Public Health, Emphasis within Health Education
Deaf and Elementary Education, Bachelor's Degree
Environmental Engineering, Bachelor's Degree
Family Finance, Emphasis within Human Development and Family Studies
Family Life Studies, Bachelor's Degree
Applied Kinesiology Fitness Promotion, Master's Degree
National Environmental Policy Act, Graduate Certificate
Physical Education, Emphasis in Kinesiology
Rehabilitation Transition, Graduate Certificate
Psychology Data Science and Research Methodology, Ph.D. Specialization
Theatre Program in Price, Associate Degree
'As a reminder, ultimately our proposal will be reviewed by our Board of Trustees, USHE, and legislative committees and therefore is subject to change,' Smith said in the letter. 'Thank you for expressing the stamina, grit, and compassion for one another that we need to navigate toward a stronger USU.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
FBI Chief Kash Patel Stuns Joe Rogan With Swatting Admission
FBI Director Kash Patel left podcast bro Joe Rogan virtually speechless as he casually revealed that his house had been swatted. 'What?' asked a stunned Rogan. 'The head of the FBI gets swatted?' 'These people play, it's the ultimate hypocrisy. They have two sets of rules: One against you, and one for them,' Patel said, having just lit a cigar, during an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience published Friday. Patel did not specify who he meant by 'these people,' but instead stoked fears that broader corrupt actors in the government were attempting to snuff out his 'mission' to 'put out the truth.' Patel added that he was committed to 'congressional oversight' as he used most of the interview to stir the same claims of government corruption and 'bad actors' outlined in his 2024 book, Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy—which Rogan plugged. Patel also backed up President Donald Trump's allegations that he was being spied on as part of an investigation into Russian election interference. Patel alleged that former FBI director Andrew McCabe and then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein as privy to the scheme, and he claimed they lied to cover it up. However, Patel claimed that he 'caught' them because they were 'arrogant' enough to 'write everything down.' 'Why would they write everything down?' Rogan asked. 'They are so arrogant. They think, 'No one is gonna catch us. I'm going to write everything down. We are gonna put it in a vault, and no one is gonna find it,'' claimed Patel. 'Well, you know what? I found the vault.' Patel claimed they had committed 'illegal activity' by pushing a 'disinformation campaign.' Patel cryptically added with a grin, 'And now I'm going to work.' The Daily Beast has contacted both McCabe and Rosenstein for comment. Rogan, taking Patel's word that crimes had been committed, asked, 'Is there a statute of limitations on these crimes?' Patel said 'generally' there is a five-year statute of limitations on what are known as 'process' crimes. 'But if you can tie them to an overarching conspiracy, there is no statute of limitations,' claimed Patel. 'So if there was more egregious conduct that no one knew about before that we are just finding, then we will have to relook at it.' Yet Patel promised, 'The one thing we will do is put out all that information to the American public.' He added, 'And if we can work with our partners at the DOJ to come up with a prosecution, that will be their decision.' The Daily Beast has contacted Patel for further comment.
Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
President Trump responds to return of alleged gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia to US
President Donald Trump responded to the sudden return of Salvadoran illegal and alleged gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia, saying, "he's a bad guy" and that the courts will "show how horrible this guy is." Trump appeared unbothered by Abrego Garcia's return on Friday afternoon, telling reporters aboard Air Force One that the Department of Justice made the decision and that soon the world will see how "horrible" a person he is. Trump expressed confidence in the Doj and its case against Abrego Garcia. "The DOJ made a decision," he said, adding, "I think their decisions have been very, very good." 'The Five': Dems, Liberal Media Have Some 'Big Questions To Answer' After Kilmar Abrego Garcia Charged "Maybe they just said, 'Look, all of these people, these judges, they want to try and run the country.' A local judge trying to run the country," said Trump. "The man has a horrible past, and I could see a decision being made, bring him back, show everybody how horrible this guy is." Read On The Fox News App The president said, "Frankly, we have to do something because the judges are trying to take the place of a president that won in a landslide. That's not supposed to be the way it is. So, I can see bringing him back. I could see. He's a bad guy." The Trump administration deported Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old illegal alien who was living in Maryland, to a high-security prison in his home country back in March on the grounds that he is a member of the violent MS-13 gang. Soon after his deportation, Democrats jumped to advocate for Abrego Garcia's release and return to the U.S., arguing that he was a wrongly deported "Maryland man." Dem Immigration Talking Points Fizzle As Dark Picture Of Abrego Garcia Emerges Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday that Abrego Garcia, 29, has landed in the United States and is set to face federal charges for human smuggling and conspiracy. "Abrego Garcia has landed in the United States to face justice," Bondi said. "A grand jury in the Middle District of Tennessee returned a sealed indictment charging him with alien smuggling and conspiracy." According to the indictment, Garcia played a "significant role" in a human smuggling ring operating for nearly a decade. Bondi described him as a full-time smuggler who made more than 100 trips, transporting women, children, and MS-13 gang-affiliated persons throughout the United States. Fox News Digital obtained Tennessee Highway Patrol bodycam footage from a 2022 traffic stop where troopers pulled over Garcia for speeding. Inside his vehicle were eight other men, raising immediate suspicions. "He's hauling these people for money," one trooper said. Watch: Ag Bondi Details 'Very Serious Charges' Facing Kilmar Abrego Garcia Troopers found $1,400 in cash and flagged Garcia in the National Crime Information Center, which returned a gang/terrorism alert. ICE was called but never responded. Though Democrats have also pushed a narrative that Abrego Garcia is a "family man," court records show Abrego Garcia's wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, filed a protective order against her husband in August 2020. The order said their shared son and stepchildren needed protection from Abrego Garcia, accusing him of verbal and physical abuse against her and mental abuse against her children. Senator Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who led the charge among Democrats to push for Abrego Garcia's return, released a statement after news of the return broke, saying, "For months the Trump Administration flouted the Supreme Court and our Constitution. Today, they appear to have finally relented to our demands for compliance with court orders and with the due process rights afforded to everyone in the United States."Original article source: President Trump responds to return of alleged gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia to US
Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Statue honoring Lancaster's first Black business owner completed
LANCASTER, Ohio (WCMH) — There is a new statue in the city of Lancaster honoring Scipio Smith, the man who became the city's first Black business owner in the 1800s. The statue is along Main Street, not far from where Smith's tinsmith shop was located. The statue shows Smith holding an open shackle with the day he was emancipated inscribed on it. He was enslaved in Virginia before being brought to Ohio. 'That was his way of showing you can't stop me, even this chain didn't hold me down,' said Michael Johnson, a local historian and the marketing director for the Fairfield County Heritage Association. 'You can't get much more of an underdog than being born a slave and losing your leg as a child.' Johnson found a brief entry about Smith in a history book. He said he'd never seen an entry quite like it, so he dug deeper. Eventually he learned about Smith's history as a slave. Four years after Smith was freed, he founded the AME church in town, which is now Allen Chapel. Italian eatery from Columbus couple behind Chapman's, Ginger Rabbit to open Friday 'To know he was right here, to know he was responsible for this church,' said Evan Saunders, Pastor of Allen Chapel. 'You don't even know the lives he's touched but yet here 2025 we realize he's touching a whole community with that so his legacy still continues to live on.' About two years after opening the church, Smith opened a tinsmith shop in Lancaster. That made him the city's first Black business owner, according to Johnson. 'He was pretty quick to act once he got his freedom. He knew what he wanted,' Johnson said. 'Opened door for other Black business owners.' Johnson wrote about Smith's story. But he wanted to do more to honor the local legend. About two years ago he started fundraising for a statue. It's now completed, full of symbols and Smith's story. 'For me I think statues are celebrations, they are people we should be looking up to, the ideals they represent, and Scipio, you can't beat his work ethic, his faith, his tenacity, the ability to overcome unbelievable obstacles. You can't beat that story,' Johnson said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
