PSU Administration Plans to Strike Humanities, Laying Off 30+ Full Time Faculty
Kay Bailey
She/Her
Editor-in-Chief
3/4/25
Plymouth State’s working plan to reduce its budget would eliminate all arts and humanities departments, according to PSU President Donald Birx’s February report and sources familiar with the plan. The cuts, which would not begin until 2026, would place the remaining humanities faculty into a broad liberal arts department.
“One of the most challenging areas in this higher-ed environment are the humanities, but we have a great program in interdisciplinary studies that gives us the opportunity to think about how we bring these disciplines together to create a new concept we might call the integrated liberal arts,” Birx said in the monthly report sent out to faculty and staff. This liberal arts department would serve as an overarching replacement for all art and humanities on campus.
Programs that could face curtailment include English, Communications and Media Studies, Art, Theater, Political Science, and History.
According to the report, the University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees is asking PSU to develop a plan to adjust to declining enrollment within higher education. Namely, the BoT wants a 2% budget cut and a comprehensive vision for where and how PSU will apply those reductions.
Birx refers to this plan as “right-sizing” the campus in his report. The plan to “pull our humanities and arts into a unique integrated liberal arts model” was originally set to be announced and implemented in May of this year, but the Plymouth Union Caucus – composed of the Tenure-Track, Non-Tenure Track, and Teaching Lecturer Unions – was able to push any implementation of reductions in force back until January 2026.
There are currently around 45 full-time professors spread between the departments expected to be affected. The university wants to cut at minimum 30 positions.
“When faculty returned to campus in August, they were met with an announcement that PSU needed to be ‘rightsized’ and approximately 30 full-time faculty members would need to be let go,” a full-time faculty member told The Clock under the condition of anonymity. The target set on the arts and humanities is clear, and some faculty fear for the future of PSU should the plan be set into motion, according to background sources.
“Closing these programs and losing these faculty members fundamentally changes the education that PSU provides for our students. It negatively impacts our PSU community, our surrounding communities, and calls into question PSU’s fundamental mission of existing to serve the public good,” one faculty member said.
The union caucus, since convincing PSU to push back the implementation date, has moved to form a committee of professors to look for alternatives to the current plan. The committee would join Birx and Provost Nate Bowdich in a “working group,” presenting their plans to the BoT in June. Bowditch did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
Retrenchment – cuts that result from “imminent financial crisis” or “program curtailment” – would act as the mechanism to remove full-time faculty from PSU’s payroll, a process most threatening to tenured professors; retrenchment is one of few means by which the university can remove professors in tenured positions from their positions, according to the American Association of University Professors PSU Chapter collective bargaining agreement.
The AAUP-PSU collective bargaining agreement guarantees a few steps before an official separation, such as a Presidential consultation with the PSU-AAUP and the Faculty Steering Committee. The President met to discuss retrenchment with the union caucus on Feb. 21, and the Steering Committee on Feb 24, reinforcing the very real likelihood of implementation.
If implemented come January 2026, pending BoT approval of the plan in June 2025, there are a number of unknowns not yet outlined in Birx’s and OAA’s plan. Plans for teaching out the students currently studying in these departments, creating the “integrated liberal arts” program itself, supplementing gen-eds without parent departments – composition courses without an English Department, for instance – remain undefined.
For now, as PSU’s administration continues to plan how exactly they will cut their budget best, the advocating role for humanities on campus falls to the faculty.
This is an ongoing story, The Clock will continue to update and inform the campus community as the situation develops.
I strongly oppose this recommendation by the BoT. My son is currently enrolled in the Theatre Arts Bachelors program, and this would greatly impact his completion of this program. He will be completing his second year, and to have his last two years of this specialized degree would greatly impact his ability to complete and continue his degree at PSU. I have attended many plays at the Silver Center and these students and professors do a fabulous job and bring culture and income to the college through the Silver Center. Please reconsider this restructuring of these programs especially during a time when our economic futures are in such a fearful state.
My daughter is a freshman. And she will be heartbroken. The play are great. I don’t understand why they would want to cut this program.
As I graduate of the English program at PSU, this news alarms me. The humanities are integral to understanding and navigating the world we live in. Without history, theater, arts, literature, and the study thereof, there is no HUMANITY. We need the humanities for resistance, for understanding history’s patterns, for expression, for knowing who we are and how we relate to others. We need the humanities to break down systems of oppression that target marginalized communities. This systematic destruction and devaluing of the humanities is what has allowed rampant late-stage capitalism and the destruction of democracy in our country. Shame on PSU for assimilating instead of leaning in to what it does well. PSU’s humanities faculty represent a breadth of knowledge and expertise that young New Hampshire citizens DESERVE to have access to. Humanities programs at PSU are innovative and interdisciplinary. They are keeping up with trends in scholarship and pedagogy and implementing those in their classrooms. Students coming out of these programs understand the power of the humanities and they harness those powers in our state and beyond. Without PSU’s humanities programs, our state will continue to suffer.
Wow, that Plymouth would so willingly choose irrelevance is shocking. In what world does reducing higher education options in New Hampshire benefit our communities? This will throw fuel onto our teacher shortage and population decline as prospective students have to look further afield for educational opportunities.
As a class of 2002 alum from the Computer Science department, I can confidently say that if Plymouth didn’t have humanities, I never would have attended. I understand that the local administration is trying to address a shortfall in budgets and student population, but this sort of change undermines the foundation of Plymouth State. I hope something can change at the State level, but I fear no support will come from there as well.
This is insane, my roommate is an Art Education major and this is the best school in her options. The fact you would even consider taking away her and so many other people’s majors away if crazy.
Deeply concerning. Doing this only detracts from what PSU has to offer. Many of the professors whose jobs are on the line are advisors to clubs, if this happens it will have ripple effects throughout student life. I hope they find another way to make ends meet.
Getting rid of history and political science at a time of political unrest in our country is CRAZY. We need to learn from history more than ever!
Yep, the final nail in the coffin. Good thing half the students are too wasted to know this is happening. Humanity’s students paying attention … bail. No need for any more people to contribute to Birx’s retirement fund.
That being said maybe they’ll find another $60k or so to make Birx a brass statue next to our boy Robert Frost.
As a theatre graduate this disgusts me. Take some of the money out of YOUR RETIREMENT FUND “president” Brix. Soooo glad I don’t donate money to this school.
Disgusting, shameful, disastrous, short-sighted, disingenuous, scurrilous attack on the humanities. This is nothing but a dishonest excuse to blame the very subjects and scholars that nurture a well-rounded education for the paltry financial support the state of New Hampshire provides to its entire education system. A move like this is yet another catastrophic mechanism to fast-track USNH’s descent with an emphasis on imploding its once-stellar reputation for high-quality post-secondary education with the added bonus of desecrating Plymouth’s 150 year tradition of preparing the next generation of k-12 teachers. This plan effectively thumbs its nose at anyone and everyone who looked to Plymouth State as a reliable local option for a slightly-more-affordable-than-UNH public university that offer(ed) a stellar academic experience as it value(d) its students, educators, and the humanities. Clearly the current PSU administration has a lot in common with another administration that uses a machete instead of a scalpel to resolve a delicate situation.
Ut Prosim, indeed.
So I gather that instead of cutting down Birx’s salary of 300+,000 a year (with recent raises), Cutting Bowditch’s salary of 250,000+, and others … instead we bring out the guillotine, dust it off and put it to work–murdering programs and communities. EVERY professor and staff member who loses a job there loses a house, loses their capacity to stay financially afloat in this rural community, and has no choice but to sell up and leave. Um, wonder what that might do to the community … The short-term thinking here–or should I say, totally on-point thinking for a right-wing board of trustees in this current climate of fascist takeover of the “United” States– will have untenable and profound economic and socio-cultural repercussions in not only this region, but greater New Hampshire. The PSU administration excels at Machiavellian power moves that deny democratic processes. They scheme, they announce, they hide. This is their MO, and every time they are oblivious to the widespread suffering they cause. This will have generational effects. The untiring and (s)heroic efforts of the unions here, as well as students who are speaking out, does credit to the very programs that PSU has decided to axe. Be not mistaken–the actions here will have their deleterious effects on not only innocent people, but on those whose administrative hands will be marked with blood, no matter how many times they will those spots to disappear … oh my goodness am I paraphrasing Shakespeare? Quick, find some humanities people … oh … that’s right …
This decision is an anti-education, anti-worker, and anti-humanity. Donald Birx should be ashamed of himself, as should the rest of the board. In its quest to optimize itself into the ground, PSU will lose the vibrancy that attracted students in the first place and contribute to a nationwide closing off of context, analysis, feeling, and empathy. As an alumni, class of 2020, I feel nothing but shame that school leadership would rather pad their pockets than protect the wonderful, dedicated, people who actually make PSU a great place to go to school.
Btw, anyone else remember when Donny Birx chose Deborah Birx, his Trump admin sister, as 2021 commencement speaker? I wonder how she got chosen, and even more so, much she got paid? Hmmm… such a mystery
When I was growing up in a NH small town, I wanted to go to Emerson College in Boston. I was even accepted! To my devastation, it was way more expensive than I could manage. Luckily, PSU was right in the state, offering me a community, a good education, and a traditional college experience for a much more accessible price. After getting my English degree in 2021, I found a job in government that connected me to the world in ways I couldn’t have imagined. I can’t believe an entire generation of students who grew up in struggling families in New Hampshire won’t have the same opportunity to pursue areas of more conceptual study. Historians look to art, culture, newspapers, and journal entries to understand the human experience of a time period, and it’s disheartening to know that future PSU students won’t have the opportunity to develop those skills and be part of the cultural conversation. I’m so disappointed in Donald Birx and the executive staff. Unbelievable.
This is absolutely outrageous. I am a current graphic design major (first year) here at PSU. I chose this university because not only is it close to home, but because it’s one of the only universities that offer a decent art program. I’m sincerely disappointed. Especially because the humanities, such as art, are already struggling programs, but those that choose to pursue them anyways are some of the most determined, talented individuals I know. We value what we do. The fact that they would go so far as to undermine the importance of these programs in the name of “budget cuts” is entirely selfish. I hope they face a strong opposition who brings to light the importance of these programs and the students who hope to—or already are—attending them.
Can the conversations around higher ed in general be somewhat employment-outcome-based? At least at the publicly- funded schools? As a person who truly values and holds a degree in the humanities – this is still only minorly concerning, except for the staff that will lose jobs (devastating). Develop, nurture, innovate, promote and fund programs and degrees that employers need. Develop a culture of accountability for the degrees translating into paid employment. For far too long colleges will gladly take money from people, states, the feds and businesses without any care for whether the students get jobs in their fields. They publish placement rates, but never indicate whether they correspond to the degrees. Go to the bagley center – they are not invested at all in whether students get jobs in their fields. They have services, but do not take ownership whatsoever over whether or not the degrees are preparing people for jobs. If schools, PSU included, would fundamentally change this mentality and culture, I bet cuts would be less of an issue and concern, as well as enrollment. Instead we get advisors that bloat their theater programs knowing full well that paid employment in that field is low frequency, often low pay – and that there are just as many working in that field without degrees and academic pedigree as there are that do. However, they will take the tuition money. I do not enjoy this news, but it is not surprising.
I am curious that you call the theater program, with only a handful of graduates each year is … um … bloated. I would scan your searchlight over to the other causes of bloat, like huge administrative salaries. Even before that, some research into the high employment rates of humanities graduates might be helpful— it is a myth (amply supported by those who wish to downsize critical thinking) that highly skilled readers, writers and thinkers with a broad grasp of human affairs and high doses of creativity and ‘soft skills’ don’t get jobs…just sayin.
I agree that employment opportunities should be part of the discussion, but I do not believe that employment opportunities should be the only driving force behind what majors are offered at higher education institutions. Where colleges fail students is when they allow them to take on debt that exceeds what the typical job in that field might reasonably support.
Given you have a humanities degree and if I assume you gained employment after college then we have one data point indicating a positive employment outcome for that major. The high-tech company I work for hired an English major from a small NE liberal arts college 25 years ago and today she helps manage booking and scheduling orders for a few 100 million dollars a quarter getting good pay and benefits so there is a second positive employment outcome. I am an electrical engineer and when I started work one of my peers in the groups had a Psychology degree with a minor in computer science but based on his talent and skills – not just his degree – he got the job and was classified as an “Engineer” just like me and my BSEE. Maybe instead of eliminating these majors, a better model might be to make sure the curriculum for those majors includes other higher demand skills that can provide the graduate a broader set of employment options thus improving the overall employment outcome not just for those majors but for the overall institution. That might also help with that underlying issue of falling enrollments.
I went to a small college to get my BSEE where liberal arts was an important part of the overall curriculum. I enjoyed those classes and learned a great deal from those professors. The interactions and friends I made with students who were pursuing those majors had a positive impact on my overall college experience and set me up to be able to better navigate a diverse post-college environment. I do not believe my college experience would have been nearly as positive had I gone to school with only other engineering students or by just taking more engineering classes. We all benefit by having artist, actors, historians, etc. in the world. As an engineer I can assure you that you do not want to live in a world of just engineers 😉
It is deeply disappointing to be fighting for the arts and humanities to remain at the school that taught me to fight for them in the first place. The art faculty and students of PSU deserve better than this. Arts bring PSU to life- I cannot even imagine what the culture in town would be like without it. It is going to take wildly creative and bold problem solving to tackle what we face as a society in the future. Cutting arts and humanities from higher education is a detriment to our collective success. Please don’t fail us.
A really sad day for PSU.
My entire education and Plymouth experience was built on two things:
1) Student Activities / Student Life
2) The humanities – my degree in the English department
Both of which uniquely positioned me through skills I learned, relationships I built, and experiences I had as a student to successfully build a career of purpose, meaning, growth, and success. It’s so unfortunate to see what’s happened at the university over the last decade – from the administrative downsizing in student life to student clubs lacking funding and now the humanities. Degrees in our modern age that are more critical than ever, and in my professional opinion, are critical skills and perspectives that help students differentiate in their future careers.
I am a parent of a student that would be impacted by these proposed changes.
The University System of New Hampshire’s 2024 Annual Report (https://www.usnh.edu/sites/default/files/media/2024-10/2024-annual-report.pdf) shows in Table 5 that the “Total Net Position” for the overall UNH “system” has increased 4 of the last 5 years, was basically flat in the year it did not increase, and that net position is currently ~20% higher than it was in 2020. It also shows in Table 5A that PSU on its own has a net positive position at the end of 2024 (as do all the institutions in the system). I understand enrollment is decreasing at all colleges but I’m not sure for this specific case with the referenced data that I follow the logic chain which would drive the need for such a dramatic solution for what seems like a relatively small 2% budget reduction request.
Adding to my confusion, the back cover of the same annual report shows in-state tuition has NOT increased in 6 years and that after applying aid, the in-state tuition is actually lower today than it was 6 years ago. While that is an outstanding statistic and I never like the price of things increasing, I am also enough of a realist to understand if all the input costs to the institution are increasing there may need to be some of that cost passed on to the “customer”. I put another child through college at UMass Lowell and there were modest increases each year in both tuition and room-and-board which felt reasonable, and I see other New England area schools announcing increases in these areas as well, so I don’t think this methodology for dealing with increasing costs is an outlier solution to budget issues. There are very few products where you pay less today than you did 6 years ago. I must wonder if some minor increases in these areas might provide a less DOGE-like way to solve a 2% budget problem. What other alternatives has the BoT considered before arriving at this current “working plan” and why were those alternatives viewed as non-viable?
I am also disappointed that there has been no mention of this topic in the “The Loop” which is targeted at communications with student’s parents or at least some targeted communication to the parents of students that could be impacted by these possible changes. If the BoT follows through on this plan it certainly does not give students and their families much runway to identify viable alternatives for the next academic year. Transparency and lots of advanced notice always have a positive impact on working through these type issues.
Your President makes $384,893 a year. I suspect she does not teach a single class. All of your VP’s, Provost, etc. make big money. Before faculty are let go and their programs are dismantled, perhaps administrator salaries should be “right-sized”. Your highest paid full professors make $130,000 a year, which is what an AVERAGE associate professor should be making at PSU. Let the entitled administrators do some teaching and SLASH their salaries.
Correct, and this is happening across the entire system. At every college, members of an increasingly bloated administration make the equivalent of three to four tenured professors’ salaries. Each institution is stacked with presidents, deans, associate deans, assistant deans, and assistants to the associate deans—the list is endless. And yet, are they taking pay cuts? Of course not. Instead, they slash services, further driving down enrollment, which they then use to justify even more cuts.
The provost and board of trustees can say that cutting these departments is about declining enrollment rates and trying to reduce operating costs to keep the university profitable. But in any business model, offering less isn’t how you attract new “customers”. You want new students? More students? You have to offer more.
PSU is most well known for being a teachers college, and cutting the humanities when all across America elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and higher education are still teaching these subjects and need teachers to teach them, is short sighted and nonsensical. It’s not a smart business decision. And that is because it is a political one.
We’ve all heard conservative and republican talking points about how the liberal arts are to blame for social progressive movements and “DEI” and “indoctrinating students into liberal and leftist beliefs”. And the provost’s decision to only cut humanities—the arts, theatre, political science, English, history, and media studies—studies that call attention to social and historical injustices, is a transparent display of toeing the line of the current republican administration’s agenda. I won’t assume to know whether or not the provost is a cruel conservative or a spineless centrist, but either way my point stands.
To use one’s position of power within the university to further one’s own political beliefs is a gross misuse of power and the provost should be ashamed of their actions.
A Brix “toeing the line” of a Republican Administration shocked, I tell you, shocked…
I graduated PSU last year in one of the related fields, and this deeply concerns me as to the future of PSU, and college education in NH. Birx, along with the BoT and anyone in support of this massive change, need to realize that their decision to fill their pockets will have ripple effects on PSU, our state, our schools, and our youth for decades to come. College is intended for one thing: to deepen your understanding and experience in a specialized topic. A liberal arts degree does not accomplish that, nor does it prepare you for the real world or any job, beyond flipping burgers or picking up trash. Every person going to college already has a liberal arts degree, it’s called a high school education. College is now the time to focus your knowledge and intentions. If Birx does not listen to his staff and student body, and only listens to his greed, it will not end well. PSU will fall, more youth will leave our great state, and our economy will fail. There are dozens of other solutions that could be implemented here instead, but none are being considered. Birx, PSU Board of Trustees, it’s time to do your job. For the sake of every student, every future student, the staff, PSU, our public school system, our economy, and NH as a whole, do better.
As a parent of a rising high school senior who currently has PSU as his college of choice, this is very concerning as he plans to major in History/Education with a minor in Theatre. He truly loves the PSU community and what it has to offer but the liberal arts and humanities are a huge part of that. As an employee of a small liberal arts college, I fully understand the challenges being faced but there are ways to protect the student experience without these drastic cuts. I’ll be interested to see what answers we get from Admissions when we press on this subject during our re-visit in April.
I would look outside of the state. All NH school are struggling right now.
Look at Keene State – they have a lot to offer in Arts and Humanities, and are poised to become the arts center in the NH system.
This is terrible news about PSU… I agree completely about the bloated upper administration making short-sighted decisions…
As a former PSU theatre graduate — this news shocks and saddens me. Before Plymouth State, I attended its high school theatre day hosted every year and was so amazed by PSU’s program that I decided to go to college, being the first of my family to pursue higher education. I’m currently a working actor in LA and the foundational skills I learned during my time studying at Plymouth still pay off to this day. I don’t know where I would have been without the guidance and support from my professors and the staff of the theatre program. Losing these programs would be a detriment to what makes PSU so special.
This is concerning as our family attended the accepted students weekend the week before this article came out. My son is very interested in the English & Education majors at PSU. We were very impressed with the English department. Sure hope the faculty we met will be able to continue teaching there.
It is highly likely they will not. I would look elsewhere, but not in NH. All the colleges are in trouble and are cutting programs as we speak.
PSU attracts students from all over for its amazing liberal arts programs. I have always been impressed with the English and arts departments, attending shows at the silver center, reading the bicentennial, and attending art shows. I am disappointed that PSU’s solution to lower attendance is to dismantle such a vibrant program, filled with amazing professors. Humanities is necessary for ALL areas of academia. If enrollment is low now imagine without these programs what could happen. And let’s not forget a vibrant downtown community with an economy that is supported by the students and employees. Ending these programs is NOT a solution- trickle down economics will have major consequences.
My brain does not understand this. You want to get rid of the ENGLISH DEPARTMENT? The department that literally teaches you how to communicate like an adult in the real-world, thereby affecting your ability to get a job and support yourself after college?