Editor’s note: This is the eighth in a series of stories looking at 34 University programs under scrutiny. The Board of Regents, the body that oversees the state’s higher education system, labeled those programs “under-performing” on Jan. 26.
The Department of Biological Sciences will appeal to continue the master’s programs in biological sciences and biochemistry after being recommended for termination by the Louisiana’s higher education governing board.
James Moroney, chair of Biological Sciences, which administers both of the programs, cited the role the two programs play for the department’s robust doctorate programs and the limited cost the programs have as reasons for continuation.
“We are not aware of a single Ph.D. granting program in the country without a master’s degree program,” Moroney said.
The programs are among 34 labeled as under-performing in the Board of Regents’ review of Louisiana higher education. The University must either submit its plans to the Regents to consolidate or cut the programs or its appeal to keep the program funded by Feb. 28.
Moroney said the department graduates about four masters students in biological sciences and one in biochemistry per year.
To be considered a low completer, a master’s program must have, on average, graduated fewer than five students annually in the past three academic years.
Moroney said the programs haven’t met the Regents’ requirements for graduates, but serve as an alternate option for doctoral students who may want to change course midway through their degree path.
“[Cutting the programs will] definitely hurt our Ph.D. program,” Moroney said. “If you are a student trying to get a Ph.D., it is nice to have the two or three year option.”
Moroney explained that many students change focus or go to medical school during the five-year doctorate process. The master’s degree programs allow these students flexibility and is valuable when recruiting doctorate students, Moroney said.
“You would end up with an all-or-nothing situation with the Ph.D., and that would definitely be a mistake,” Moroney said. “It is a very important part of the department, and it’s serving its purpose.”
Moroney said the master’s programs do not have any exclusive courses or instructors, so cutting them would produce no benefits.
“We would not change the makeup of our faculty at all,” Moroney said.
This is the first time the programs have been on the Regents’ low-completer list, although they have never graduated the required numbers. Moroney said the department has already gone through a period of consolidation from 12 undergraduate and graduate degrees to seven in the past decade.
 
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Contact Xerxes A. Wilson at [email protected]