BY ADAM ATKINSON
North Country This Week

POTSDAM — SUNY Potsdam’s class schedule for the fall semester will remain unchanged for incoming students even in the face of a $9 million deficit program cuts and other strategies to start to close the gap.

The college has not released many details on what these strategies mean at this point, but confirmed that four programs with low or no enrollment will be dissolved. Students enrolled in those courses will be able to complete their academic tract to get degrees.

“The class schedule is already set for Fall 2023. It is important to note that under SUNY policy, in the case of a program discontinuation, campuses must have a teach-out plan in place—meaning that all currently enrolled students would be given the opportunity to complete their degrees,” said Associate Vice President for Communications Mindy Thompson in an official statement.

“Over the summer, four programs that had either low enrollment or no enrollment were recommended for discontinuation. While those programs are phased out over the next few years, no new students will be admitted,” Thompson said.

Interim Provost Alan Hersker confirmed which programs will be cut.

“Under the proposal, the following four programs will be phased out, providing individualized degree completion plans for all current students: College Teaching (CAS), Computer Science Education (BA), Geographic Information Science (BS), and Speech Communication (BA),” Hersker told North Country This Week.

“Altogether, the impacted majors currently enroll a total of 27 students, representing 1 percent of the student body. Two of the programs, computer science education and GIS, do not currently have any students enrolled,” Hersker said.

A recent leaked internal email among members of the college’s faculty senate from Prof. Greg Gardner, faculty senate president, expressed concerns about potential restructuring or personnel cuts and painted a dire picture.

“We must prepare ourselves for program and headcount cuts of an order beyond anything we have seen on the campus in living memory,” the email warned.

College officials have stated that the college president, Dr. Suzanne Smith Smith, is working with SUNY Central on a plan of action to deal with the $9 million deficit with more details to be announced.

Some of the deficit could be influenced by a decline in enrollment. Gardner’s email stated that enrollment declines have been ongoing for the last decade. While current numbers overall are lower than in years past, the college reports that there will be 800 new students this fall, the second year in a row enrollment has increased.