Students at Rider University admire the beautiful campus, take pride in being amongst a diverse campus community, and take advantage of the variety of majors and minors that the college institution has to offer.
But now, Rider’s identity is at stake.
Students, faculty members and parents were in deep shock when the email notice from the Office of the President was sent out informing everyone that 14 academic programs were announced to be removed, followed by 3 majors to be transitioned to minors. While the reasons behind these drastic changes were sought to be reasonable, it was rather an act of betrayal.
Members of the campus community was not prepared to learn about the drastic changes that would lead many professors to lose their jobs, students to transfer, and leave everyone in between to feel more overwhelmed by this unexpected campus news.
For those who may not know, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is an organization that, in a nutshell, works with colleges and universities in ensuring that higher education is not only promoting good standards but are also achieving that goal. (for the complete mission statement and general information, visit: aaup.org/about-aaup ). In efforts, the AAUP collaborates with the college President and administration team.
Many students are unclear of how such a decision was made and who is involved in the decision-making process. More importantly, students are unsure of how to act upon these changes. In particular, freshman and sophomore class students who were affected by the changes are faced with a challenging decision to either declare a different major or transfer to a different college.
Students shared their thoughts on the decisions that were made:
“I was really mad,” said one freshman, who’s major (soon will be available as only a minor) is Entrepreneurship and minor (that will no longer exist) is German. “I’ll be transferring soon.”
“People see it as only the start of major cut-offs; those majors which were preserved now are not necessarily guaranteed future security down the line.We also are not provided context as to how these cuts fit into the greater scheme of Rider’s enrollment restorations. "What’s the plan?” questioned one junior student.
A sophomore whose major is currently Advertising, one of the majors that will no longer be available, stated that this is his second time he’ll be transferring. “I just can’t believe it man, like I thought I found the right school this time. I’ve made some really good friends here and met cool professors who actually want to help students.”
These changes are discouraging students from continuing on with their education at Rider, thus only creating a greater decline in enrollment which is, ultimately, counterproductive to the university’s goal.
Even though juniors and seniors, as stated from the news release, are able to continue on with their chosen majors, they still are disappointed with the decision.
A junior Public Relations student expressed her thoughts by saying, “This is my first semester here at Rider and I have already been fed up with all of the nonsense that has been going on. First the continuation of the sexual assault and now this? There could have been a better way to resolve the budget cut issue.” The junior student also added, “So much money was put towards the Big Sean concert that could have been put towards better usage.”
Faculty members have already spoken up and petitions are available (voluntarily) for Rider students to sign up in efforts to help save the Westminster Piano program and the 14 academic programs that are in the process of being eliminated. Here are links to the petitions:
https://www.change.org/p/westminster-college-of-th...
https://www.change.org/p/rider-university-rider-un...
“There are alternatives to resolve the college’s budget cut problem,” said a soon-to-be graduate senior. “I’m going to attain the open forum that SGA is hosting. I really hope that a lot of the students and faculty members will show up to this meeting as well.”
Nearly everyone is affected someway, somehow. With a respectable manner, students are always encouraged to speak with their advisors, SGA representatives and other school authorities with their concerns.
Budget cuts should be handled with great reasoning and everyone who is involved and who may be affected by any changes has the right to have a clear, mutual understanding to those reasons.
