With just a whiff of dissent, the N.C. Central University Board of Trustees  voted Wednesday to eliminate five degree programs at the school.

The  elimination of degrees for a Master of Arts in sociology and for Bachelor of  Arts degrees in sociology, public administration. French and art with a  concentration in teacher education now goes to the UNC system’s Board of  Governors for final approval.

The ending of degree-granting in those  disciplines is part of a comprehensive streamlining of academic programs  designed, said Chancellor Charlie Nelms, to enhance NCCU’s “quality, efficiency  and effectiveness.”

The board unanimously approved all the  recommendations, except for the elimination of the masters in sociology and the  bachelors in public administration, where trustee Carlton Thornton voted no.

“I thought that both programs had a lot of potential,” Thornton said.

“They could become signature programs for us. And these were the two  programs that both had a lot of advocates, a lot of people supporting them. I  got a lot of emails about them and heard from a lot of  people.”

University officials expected that some of the advocates might  come to the board meeting and want to speak about the academic restructuring.
The site of the meeting was switched from a conference room in the  school’s Jones Building to a much larger auditorium in the School of Education,  and microphones were placed in the aisles for potential speakers.

But  the recommendations — which also included merging the mathematics and physics  departments, English and modern foreign languages, environmental sciences and  geography, and computer information with computer science, and moving the dance  program to the theater department — sailed through quickly, with no comments  from the audience.

Read more:  The Herald-Sun – NCCU approves cutting five degree programs