The Exponent received this letter on Nov. 14 and confirmed the identity of the sender

BW’s financial crisis is forcing the institution to make some very difficult decisions. As Provost Stahl has suggested, the institution will have to decide what its priorities are as it grapples with questions about whether and how to cut programs. Eliminating core requirements altogether may be seen as a means to allow students to establish BW’s academic priorities. Without the core, students are free to select the courses they want and the less preferred courses can be eliminated. But what would that lead to when students have narrow vocational interests, often reinforced (even dictated?) by their parents? Would BW wind up offering majors only in business and health related fields? That certainly seems like a possibility, but would it protect BW’s viability over the long run? I doubt it. Job markets are constantly shifting, making it almost impossible to anticipate future job trends and changes in student demands. However, we do know that basic critical thinking, communication, and quantitative skills are fundamental to success in any job. These skills are also fundamental to our roles as citizens who are asked to participate in governance decisions. History tells us that providing students with a diversity of options and encouraging them via core requirements to try more than one option is an effective means of building fundamental skills and coping with rapidly evolving societal demands. Any move to significantly narrow BW’s academic focus should be taken only as a last resort when other moves to address the current problem have failed.

So what should be done in the short-run to address the financial crisis? Some cuts probably will be needed, but I hope they can be accomplished primarily through eliminating unnecessary course sections and reducing the use of contingent faculty. At the same time, greater effort needs to be expended to build the endowment and find other means of buffering BW’s budget against short-term shocks. Renewed effort to attract foreign students might help although I realize that visa issues may make that difficult. I’m sure that faculty, administrators and students can identify other means of shoring up the budget without seriously compromising BW’s academic diversity and flexibility. Our collective imagination is the only limiting factor in this effort.