Portfolio review closed many ‘zombie’ SU certificate programs, faculty say
SU’s academic portfolio review listed 32 certificate programs as “closed” and one program as “paused.” SU’s School of Education closed seven of its certificate programs, many of which overlapped with existing graduate programs. Photo by Avery Magee | Photo Editor, Design by Sophia Burke | Digital Design Director
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A little over a third of programs listed as closing in Syracuse University’s academic portfolio review were certificate programs.
Certificate programs are undergraduate or professional credential degrees designed to be “flexible.” In Syracuse University’s academic portfolio review results, 32 certificate programs were listed as “closed” across all of SU’s schools and colleges.
The only “paused” certificate program is the College of Professional Studies’ full stack development program, which was labeled as “in review for further direction,” according to the review.
The review included several advanced and non-advanced certificate programs, including four at the College of Arts and Sciences, one at the College of Engineering and Computer Science, eight Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs programs, seven School of Information Sciences programs, six at the College of Professional Studies and seven at the School of Education.
Of the listed certificate programs, 26 had zero students enrolled, according to a list given to The D.O. by the university on April 1.
College of Professional Studies Senior Associate Dean Ryan Williams said the online knowledge management certificate program is closed, adding that the other four programs are paused and “have not yet gone away.”
However, the review labeled five out of six College of Professional Studies certificate programs and two graduate programs as “closed,” and all are not listed on the College of Professional Studies’ list of online degrees and certificates.
SU’s School of Education closed seven of its certificate programs, some of which Dean Kelly Chandler-Olcott said were “zombie programs.” The decision to close many of its programs came from already-existing “companion” graduate programs that left the certificate programs with no students enrolled, like the advanced study in school counseling program.
“There was some thinking that if we have additional pathways, people could get extra certificates, more training,” Chandler-Olcott said. “But really, we only need one program in school counseling, and that’s the master’s.”
Chandler-Olcott said the college’s closed certificate programs were the “smallest” of their programs, with low student enrollment.
“These are almost entirely what we affectionately call ‘zombie programs’ that didn’t have the students, and in most cases, they were a companion to a program that did have students in it,” Chandler-Olcott said.
Williams said College of Professional Studies faculty and student reactions to the review have been “straightforward and efficient.”
“It’s mostly the main campus schools and colleges where there’s confusion,” Williams said. “There really hasn’t been too much confusion here at the College of Professional Studies.”
Williams said that the college’s process for reviewing the future of paused programs is a collaborative effort.
“Our faculty get together, and we decide as a group of faculty what we’re going to do,” Williams said.
Chandler-Olcott said that the School of Education has been “engaged in significant curriculum review” and reexamining its programs since 2021, and will continue that process through the fall semester. Chandler-Olcott said that the list is incomplete.
“That’s almost entirely what you see on the list, because that is the work that you could see in the time period that the university called portfolio review,” Chandler-Olcott said. “We did a bunch of work before that, and we are in the midst of a bunch of work that’s going to finish after that.”
