Budget and marquee programs

Budget, Marquee Programs and the Academic Division

The academic division continues to adapt to the changing budget realities of our times. The number of Michigan high school graduates are expected to decline by another 9% over the next decade, expected community college enrollments (potential CMU transfers) are also in decline, and there is an increasing trend in the number of freshmen who bring college credit (AP, CLEP, high school concurrent, IB, etc.) to CMU. Furthermore, the effects of COVID-19 have created a circumstance where many incoming and continuing undergraduate students are delaying progress on their degrees and the pandemic's effect on the Michigan economy creates concern for a potential, substantial decline in state appropriations over the next years.

Budget Priorities Committee

As part of the prioritization process, CMU's Budget Priorities Committee (BPC) was asked to evaluate approximately 20 programs designated as marquee by academic colleges. The BPC evaluated programs for their appeal to degree competitors, their ability to attract undergraduate or graduate student populations, their potential for promoting and reinforcing brand awareness, as well as for their potential for credential/certificate/professional development offerings. The formal report from the BPC can be accessed here.

Theme and Marquee Programs

Theme	Marquee Major Programs
Community & Leadership	Teacher Preparation (Early Childhood, Special Education, Elementary Education) Public Administration (G) Integrative Public Relations Social Work Philosophy and Religion
Design & Technology	Animation Data Science Logistics Engineering and Technology Broadcast and Cinematic Arts
Entrepreneurship & Innovation	Business Information Systems Entrepreneurship Fashion Merchandising and Design
Environment & Climate	Biology Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Environmental Science Environmental Studies Meteorology
Health & Well Being	Communication Disorders (UG) and Speech Language Pathology (G) Counseling (G) Exercise Science Medicine Neuroscience Physical Therapy Psychology

N = 24

The table above documents the themes and marquee programs developed through collaborative decision-making and shared governance. The first column presents themes that constitute a permanent, guiding list that emerged from strategic areas of market demand and program strength. The themes were generated as a result of substantive research and evaluation between CMU and best-practices research partners (i.e. EAB, Gray and Associates). The second column consists of marquee programs. To build this list, academic colleges presented a total of 37 programs to designate as marquee, 20 of which were identified as aligning with the designated themes. In the interest of shared governance, the 20 programs were forwarded to the Budget Priorities Committee for evaluation. The BPC evaluated programs for their appeal to degree competitors, their ability to attract undergraduate or graduate student populations, their potential for promoting and reinforcing brand awareness, as well as for their potential for credential/certificate/professional development offerings. Marquee major programs will be reviewed and updated regularly, following a similar process.