ALEX BUCKNAM
Asst. News Editor
SUNY Fredonia is offering a teach-out option for students who were enrolled in a major that was discontinued last Spring. This teach-out initiative will continue for four full years.
Majors were officially deactivated on June 5 of this year, according to an email sent out on Mar. 18 by Fredonia’s Executive Vice President and Provost Dr. David Starrett. According to Starrett’s email, Fredonia will no longer recruit or admit any new students in the 13 programs on the initial major discontinuation list after June 5.
This means that incoming students could still enroll in these programs if they paid their deposit before that date.
Dr. Naomi Baldwin, the interim chief of staff and executive assistant to President Stephen Kolison, said that every freshman coming to Fredonia who applied with a major that was going to get discontinued was made aware of the situation.
“We sent out emails, and we can track when they open them,” Baldwin stated.
Travis Bernhard is a current freshman with a visual arts and new media (VANM): photography BFA. He got accepted into the VANM program on Feb. 5.
Bernhard was informed about the program cuts initially by Admissions Advisor Michael Banko and was kept informed by photography Professor Stephen Komp via email.
Bernhard was nervous and frustrated when he heard the news that his major was being discontinued.
“I was frustrated when I heard [about the cuts]. Fredonia is known for being a liberal arts school so for them to start taking away a bunch of arts, education and language [majors], you aren’t really making yourself a liberal arts school,” he stated.
Bernhard was also filled with questions, as he was unclear of the complexities of the ongoing situation.
“I sent a list of questions over to Stephen Komp asking if I was still going to be able to complete the program,” Bernhard said.
Even though Bernhard knew that his program was going to be deactivated, he paid his deposits so that he could have a spot in the program.
There is another first-year student who is attending Fredonia in a discontinued major; Alex McBeth is a ceramics major who was accepted into the program after it was announced that the ceramics major was going to be discontinued.
McBeth first found out about their major through the news when they were looking at colleges to attend, and then became fully aware when administration offices were emailing them to inform them about their major.
McBeth still chose to attend Fredonia because of the professors here. “I got to meet [Professor] Hide and he was awesome,” they said. Hide Sadohara is a ceramics professor at SUNY Fredonia.
Another reason McBeth chose to attend Fredonia was because they were promised by an administrator that they would be able to complete a four-year degree on time and still graduate with a ceramics major.
“I [told the administrator that] I would be committed to Fredonia if it wasn’t for the major hiccup. [I asked] ‘if I attend Fredonia, would I still get my degree in four years?’, and she said she would get back to me on that. A week later she sent me a voicemail, and said yes, I would be able to,” McBeth stated.
During their time at Fredonia, McBeth has felt lonely. They are the only freshman ceramics major and are going to be the last one. “To my knowledge, there are only five upperclassmen and me [in the ceramics program], so it’s been lonely,” they stated.
For other majors at Fredonia, two students are in the Spanish program, according to the Spanish Department coordinator, Juan De Urda Anguita.
These names were kept anonymous for privacy reasons.
Kolison and the administration have claimed that each student in these programs would still get the teach-out option and receive a degree in their program.