by Ursula Newman
At the start of the spring semester, Cal Poly Humboldt notified the California Faculty Association (CFA) and university community that one department, one major, one minor and one credential program will be discontinued, while one other major will be suspended until further notice.
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Jenn Capps said these changes are attributed to low enrollment and budget constraints. Students within these programs will have a clear path to completion, and there will be no layoffs as a result of these cuts. A total of 56 students are enrolled in these five programs.
“It’s common for academic institutions to streamline programs by adding, modifying and discontinuing academic offerings,” Capps said. “In our case, discussions of discontinuing or suspending certain programs have been ongoing in the Integrated Curriculum Committee (ICC), a faculty-lead committee of the University Senate, for quite some time and well before our current budget challenges.”
The religious studies department, economics major, German minor and educational leadership credential will be discontinued. The international studies major will be suspended until further notice. As a result of the discontinuation of the religious studies department and major, the history department has updated its offerings to retain the entire religious studies curriculum, and offer a related concentration. With the discontinuation of the economics major, a concentration in economics through the business department will remain along with the economics minor.
Religious studies
The religious studies department and major will be discontinued and, moving forward, a history of religions concentration will be offered within the history department. Religious Studies Department Chair Sarah Jaye Hart said that although the department is being discontinued, the entire religious studies curriculum will be retained through the history department’s updated courses. According to the university’s enrollment numbers, there were 10 students in the 2024-25 academic year enrolled as religious studies majors.
“Faculty from both the history and the religious studies departments have worked steadily for well over a year now to reshape the history curriculum in ways that meet the cutting edge of both fields and that serve our students,” Hart said.
In the 2025-26 catalog, the history major will have three concentrations — history, history education and history of religions.
“Through general education courses across the major, students from all majors have the opportunity to take these classes,” Hart said. “The faculty remain committed to teaching them, knowing as we do that an understanding of history and of belief-based traditions, and a commitment to education, are critical to democracy.”
Economics
With the discontinuation of the economics major, Professor Erick Eschker, chair of the department of economics, wanted students to know that they can still study economics. The economics concentration in the business administration bachelor of science degree will remain. A minor in economics will continue to be offered, as well as all of the economics classes required for several other majors. Eschker said that they are still signing up new economics majors.
“That’s because the process of major discontinuation is uncertain, long and probably won’t be implemented until the 2027-28 catalog,” Eschker said. “Any new economics majors will be able to graduate on time.”
There are 22 students enrolled as economics majors during the 2024-25 academic year. Cal Poly Humboldt is also discussing merging the economics and business departments. However, the process is on pause right now as discussions with the CFA begin.
“The hope is that faculty will become energized, and that new projects and initiatives will develop,” Eschker said.
German minor
With the discontinuation of the German minor, German language courses will no longer be offered at the university. Kate Foley-Beining, a lecturer in the department of world languages and cultures, said she hasn’t taught any German language courses for two years due to enrolled students having already completed those courses.
The 2024-25 school year only had four students in the German minor, according to the university’s enrollment numbers. Foley-Beining said that the low enrollment could be combated with more recruitment, and has felt that there is not much spirit for increasing the humanities.
Foley-Beining said that in the midst of the school transitioning to a Cal Poly, there should be more of a focus on STEAM instead of STEM, an acronym which would better serve and include the arts.
“It slowly dawned on me that there would be no more German languages taught at Humboldt University, that’s named for Alexander von Humboldt,” Foley-Beining said.
Educational leadership credential
The educational leadership credential will no longer be offered through the school of education. For the 2024-25 school year, there were nine students enrolled in the credential.
As stated on the educational credential fact sheet on the university website, after earning a bachelor’s degree and passing exams, students must get a teaching credential grounded in field experiences, which allows them to teach.
The school of education will offer three remaining credential programs, the elementary education, secondary education and special education credentials.
International studies department
The 2024-25 year only had 11 students enrolled in the international studies department, according to the university’s enrollment numbers. Again, low enrollment is credited for the discontinuation and suspension of these programs. The major is set to be suspended, not discontinued.
Capps stated that there are still several options available for students to explore international study and global engagement.
“Some examples include: the International Studies Minor, the Global Studies Concentration in Politics, the International Service Learning Program, study abroad options available in summer and winter breaks, and Anthropology field schools which provide valuable learning and study abroad opportunities,” Capps said.
Conclusion
The university has been intentional in preserving some of the coursework from these discontinued programs, and recognizes the value of these disciplines, according to Capps. She said that it is common for academic institutions to add, modify and discontinue academic offerings to streamline programs and meet student demand.
“Since 2023 and the university’s transition to a polytechnic, we have launched 12 new degree programs in a broad range of disciplines including Mechanical Engineering, Applied Anthropology and Marine Biology,” Capps said. “We will be launching a number of new programs in 2026 including Applied Humanities, Media Arts, and Health Sciences.”
Ursula Newman is a journalism major and Humboldt local. You can find her all over town doing all kinds of things, and talking to all sorts of people.
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