Provost Astrid Merget intends to appeal the Board of Regents’ termination of the master’s and doctorate degree programs in comparative literature. Merget said she plans to file the appeal because the low student completion rate that caused the programs to be cut does not mean the programs are deficient. The Board of Regents terminated three University programs at its monthly meeting last week. ‘As a doctorate in the humanities, the length of time from starting a doctorate program to finishing it is fairly long, which is the custom in those fields,’ Merget said. The Board of Regents considered data from a five-year period to establish low-completion programs subject to elimination. Master’s programs require an average of five completers per year or a minimum of 25 graduates within five years. Doctoral programs require two completers per year and 10 graduates in the five-year span. The Board of Regents has cut 245 low-completer programs across higher education in the state since January 2009. Merget said the doctorate program in comparative literature produced 1.7 students per year in the five-year period. ‘We don’t think the fact that it is a small amount every year is symptomatic of it being deficient,’ Merget said. ‘Instead, it is in the character of these programs.’ Merget argued the program shouldn’t be cut because it is almost completely interdisciplinary, drawing faculty from foreign language, literature and English departments. ‘Students who have assistantships in the area serve very important purposes in teaching, primarily in foreign languages,’ Merget said. Merget said because the comparative literature programs draw most faculty from other areas, the University doesn’t stand to save much money by cutting the programs, and job losses are highly unlikely. The Regents also cut the bachelor’s degree in women’s and gender studies and consolidated six other degree programs within the University. Merget said she didn’t oppose the other consolidations and cut. The University has 90 days to submit its case for maintaining the programs, said Jeannine Kahn, assistant vice chancellor of Academic Affairs. The Regents also eliminated the linguistics program at the University last spring because of a low completion rate. — Contact Xerxes A. Wilson at [email protected]