 "Photo: Rob Schulz/ The Spectrum")
In the hardest economic time since the Great Depression, Kelly Ahuna finds herself without the job she's loved for the past 10 years.
Additionally, all UB undergraduates are without the opportunity to take a class that could help them land their own post-graduation dream job.
Methods of Inquiry, the undergraduate elective that's open to all majors and has been proven to help increase students' GPAs by heightening their critical thinking skills, was cut by the Office of the Provost on Tuesday. This popular class will not be available in the fall or in the foreseeable future — leaving two full-time faculty, three graduate students and a handful of undergraduate assistants without jobs come May.
"This was such a helpful class for students. In fact, two weeks ago the provost sent out an e-mail with a document written by the General Education Task Force that said Methods of Inquiry was a program that should be built upon. Now it's cut. It's weird," said Ahuna, the program's director.
What's most troubling to those who are involved with the program is the way in which they were notified — which is to say, they really weren't.
Tuesday morning, Ahuna was informed via a voicemail message that her classes had been canceled for the fall semester. Confused, Ahuna called Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Michael Ryan for an explanation. He only said the cut was made due to lack of resources.
The vice provost did not immediately return calls for comment.
"I got a voicemail — that's it. That's pretty lousy," Ahuna said.
Ahuna, who has been with the program since 2000, is now out of a job and isn't sure what she'll do next. Likewise, other students have lost their resume-building opportunity and a position they truly loved.
"I have been involved with the program for two years. I took the class and it really helped me boost my GPA and be more successful in other classes," said Bari Kolbrenner, a junior social sciences interdisciplinary major.
Kolbrenner is an undergraduate assistant in the program and loved the opportunity to meet and work with other students while continually working on her critical thinking skills.
"It's been proven to benefit students," Kolbrenner said. "It just seems like UB isn't prioritizing the students."
Methods of Inquiry began in 1987 when the current provost voiced interest about creating a general education elective that would span all majors and help enhance students' critical thinking skills.
Susan Schapiro, the original director and founder of the program conducted nationwide research, and based on those findings, Methods of Inquiry was created with an award-winning grant from the federal government.
Ahuna feels that cutting the program greatly decreases the quality of education for UB undergraduates and doesn't understand why, despite her proposed cut in budget and success rate, it's being cut.
"First we're told the program will get built up and the next thing we know, our classes are canceled — and then we find out the whole program is cut," Ahuna said. "It doesn't make sense."
Ahuna has a right to question the administration's decision based on university findings.
UB's Office of Institutional Analysis put together a report in 2004, which found Methods of Inquiry to be one of the most successful classes on campus. According to the report, students who took Methods of Inquiry had significantly higher retention and graduation rates than students who do not, despite beginning college with lower SAT scores and high school GPAs.
Ahuna points to this report as the main reason that this program should not be cut.
"This class improves the quality of students' education at UB," Ahuna said. "My concern for UB is that a program that really works for students is being cut."
Kolbrenner feels similarly. "I just feel like UB doesn't care about student success and this cut is proof."
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