Written by Addison Wright, Asheville Watchdog.
The UNC System Board of Governors recently approved University of North Carolina Asheville Chancellor Kimberly van Noort’s proposal to eliminate the university’s drama, philosophy, religion, and ancient Mediterranean studies (classics) programs and to curtail languages and literature classes.
The board also announced it will begin a “guaranteed admissions” program at UNC Asheville and five other campuses to stem recent declines in enrollment, which fell 25 percent at UNCA in the past decade, the steepest decline of any school in the 16-campus UNC school system. Any North Carolina high school student with a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.8 — the equivalent of a B-minus average — will be automatically admitted to UNCA, the Governors said.
The average high school GPA of UNC Chapel Hill’s Class of 2025 is 4.39, the university reported.
While the academic programs at UNCA will be discontinued, classes in those areas will still be offered and students currently enrolled in the affected programs will be able to complete their degrees, van Noort repeatedly told the board’s Committee on Educational Planning, Policies, and Programs before the board’s action. But the programs will no longer be available to new students.
“Of course, current students are upset,” van Noort told the committee, but she said she has worked individually with each of the students affected by her decision to “help them understand their options.”
The cuts were necessary, UNCA officials said, because of a budget deficit that had grown for years because of declining enrollment — a stunning 25 percent in the past decade — at the UNC System’s only designated liberal arts university.
“We have stopped the enrollment decline, and we believe we will have good news, strong news, for this fall,” Van Noort told the committee. “However, it is my responsibility as chancellor and the responsibility of my academic team to ensure that we correct the bunch of difficulties that we’ve had at the university and position the university for future success so that we will not deal with this ever again,” she said.
When she was named in November 2023, Van Noort, a Nebraska native who holds a doctorate in French language and literature from Boston University, became the sixth UNCA chancellor in the past nine years.
Faculty letter not discussed
The religious studies department will continue as a minor, and the recently hired Provost Yvonne Villanueva-Russell will work with the affected departments and deans going forward.
In addition to hearing van Noort’s proposal, the committee had received a letter of dissent from 21 UNCA department chairs and three program directors. The letter was not discussed Wednesday at either the committee meeting or the Board of Governors meeting.
The departments affected by the decision employ about 40 professors and enroll 78 students. Half of the professors and 29 of the students are in the languages and literature department.
“I hope we can do everything as a board to support you,” Committee Secretary Sonja Phillips Nichols told van Noort before the board’s decision. “We’re going to have to do this on every single campus. This is a very hard but very necessary road that we are going to have to travel to manage the budgets on our campus.”
The unanimous decision came five months after van Noort announced that state law mandated that UNCA had until the end of June to eliminate what she described then as a $6 million budget deficit for the 2024 fiscal year, projected to grow to $8 million deficit for the following fiscal year.
Van Noort’s plan to eliminate and curtail programs was not factored into the deficit reduction for the current 2025 fiscal year that began in July but would have an impact on fiscal year 2026 at the earliest, UNCA’s new vice chancellor for budget and finance told Asheville Watchdog.
The board’s decision also comes three weeks before the fall semester. Students in the affected departments have said they are unsure whether they should remain at UNCA.
“I guess I’m disappointed but not surprised,” said Ashlin Heise, a rising UNCA sophomore majoring in drama, in reaction to the decision. “I was in denial about it for a while because there was really no way to predict it.”
“The worst way it affects me is that I’m faced with the decision of whether or not to leave,” Heise said. “As much as I would love to move onto a better program, I love UNCA. I have so much going for me there and so many memories. I would lose two jobs that I love dearly and so many good friends.”
Ethan Colon, a senior philosophy major, criticized the decision.
“The direction that our legislature and our university’s ruling bodies are moving in is frightening for the prospects of the liberal arts,” Colon said. “I’m worried about what the future will look like for students interested in philosophy, languages, literatures, and other non-STEM [science, technology, engineering, mathematics] or business fields. What does it say about UNCA, that there is such disparity in the care allotted to STEM versus the humanities?”
The Watchdog reached out to several professors in the affected departments but did not hear back before deadline.
The academic review process
The Board of Governors’ decision follows an academic portfolio review at UNCA. The university hired Charlotte-based First Tryon Advisors to identify programs for potential course reductions or program eliminations. As first reported by The Watchdog in June, First Tryon identified 14 academic programs for reduction or elimination.
Faculty criticized the agency’s methodology and analysis, and students majoring in the programs expressed their shock and anger. Van Noort said individual meetings with academic department chairs, associated deans, and senior staff also informed her final decisions.
Van Noort and UNC System President Peter Hans received almost 1,500 letters asking them to reconsider eliminating the drama and philosophy departments.
Other actions have been taken to address the university’s budget deficit. In April, the university dismissed 12 staff members, and it previously put adjunct professors on notice that their contracts would not be renewed for the next academic year.
Last week, UNCA announced plans to build a $4 million outdoor tennis facility on campus. The university said gifts from donors, corporate partners, alumni, and grants would fund the project.
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Addison Wright is a 2024 graduate of UNCA, where she majored in mass communications and political science. She was news editor for The Blue Banner, UNCA’s school newspaper. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.
Photograph: A screenshot from PBS North Carolina’s livestream of the UNC System Board of Governors’ meeting shows University of North Carolina Asheville Chancellor Kimberly van Noort addressing the Committee on Educational Planning, Policies, and Programs.