Staff file photo About 60 students, faculty and supporters attended a rally in November at Youngstown State University to call on the administration not to cut the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts program and other programs in an effort to save money.

Editor’s note: This is the fifth-biggest story of 2021 in Mahoning County as voted by Vindicator staff.

YOUNGSTOWN — In a year of ups and downs, Youngstown State University found itself contending with a sustained drop in enrollment and the possibility of a millions-of-dollars deficit — not to mention a lingering pandemic. But it also raked in millions in donations and one-time COVID-19 funds.

In the latter half of the year, YSU turned its focus to achieving greater sustainabilty after noting that enrollment had dropped by 1,398 students, or about 11 percent, over the past three years.

As a result of an Academic Program Enhancement and Effectiveness Initiative that assessed the university’s 145 academic programs, 26 associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s level programs are scheduled to be “sunset,” or discontinued, starting fall 2022, with the programs’ collective 87 students expected to be able to complete their studies and graduate as the programs are phased out.

The 26 programs — 10 of which had no students enrolled and three that had one each — represent less than 1 percent of enrollment, according to the administration. Discontinued programs with the highest number of students are the electric utility technology associate program and the computer information systems bachelor’s program, each with 12 students.

Some other programs being discontinued include the creative writing and the gerontology master’s programs with nine students each, the medical laboratory technology associate program with eight students, and the manufacturing engineering bachelor’s with seven students.

The cuts to academic programs came with layoff notices for nine faculty members, including several tenure-track faculty in programs not slated for elimination, previous reports show.

The layoffs will affect fewer than 3 percent of YSU’s full-time faculty, according to a statement from the administration. Of the nine, one opted to retire and two were offered reassignments.

BACKLASH

Backlash followed quickly on the heels of the announced cuts and layoffs, sparking peaceful protests on campus in early November and again early this month, in which students and staff advocated the importance of some of the sunsetting programs and questioned why the university hadn’t sought to save money through cuts to nonacademic programs, such as athletics.

“The administration needs to know that the YSU community is not on board with cutting academics, sunsetting programs and retrenching faculty, especially when the administration refuses to audit or institute cost savings within any of the university’s nonacademic units,” YSU-OEA President Susan Clutter said in a previous statement.

Neil McNally, vice president for business and finance operations, in November defended the decision, saying that none of the university’s athletics programs are under-enrolled.

“If YSU athletics can no longer find students to fill a team … if we didn’t have enough athletes to complete a team, we would definitely be looking to sunset those athletic programs,” he added.

FUNDING

YSU administration has pointed to possible financial instability as a reason for many of the changes.

When YSU’s enrollment drops were first publicly discussed in October, McNally said YSU’s operating budget for fiscal year 2022 was based partly on the assumption that enrollment would continue to decline.

Fees and tuition this fall semester were some $3.6 million less than last fall, and McNally and Brien Smith, provost and vice president of academic affairs, estimated that such revenue would decrease $5.6 million over the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

YSU’s budget remained balanced through the end of 2021, largely thanks to a one-time infusion of more than $10 million in federal COVID-19 relief money.

The university also received several sizable donations that reflected continued support from the community, YSU Foundation President Paul McFadden said earlier this month — the foundation received 595 gifts and 10 pledges totaling $6.4 million, as well as six planned gift commitments totaling $1.6 million and $512,357 in pledge payments for the first quarter of fiscal year 2022, he said.

The YSU Foundation, which is a nonprofit that is independent from the university but supports “the growth and development of Youngstown State University,” according to its mission statement, also provided $9.3 million in student scholarships this academic year and is slated to provide another $11.1 million in scholarship money next year, McFadden said.