OU may have the opportunity to pick up students where another university left them.
In an effort to save money, Baker University cut five majors from their curriculum; the change will take effect in the fall.
The majors cut include political science, physical education, molecular bioscience, wildlife biology and computer information systems, according to ljworld.com.
With Baker and Ottawa offering a similar type of atmosphere and being within a 20 minute drive of each other, the elimination of the majors may affect Ottawa.
Dean of Enrollment Management June Unrein said she didn’t see much of an impact on Ottawa from Baker’s loss of molecular bioscience, but other fields of study could offer
Baker students a chance to finish their major.
“When the demand isn’t there for certain fields of study, then a school has to make cuts,” Unrein said. “(Baker’s cutting of) physical education and political science could affect us to a certain degree.”
Physical Education Instructor Annette Blecha said health and physical education are still important parts of the school system, but it’s hard to know what some schools feel are important to have in their curriculum.
“We are seeing some schools move away from (physical education) and I hope we maintain our breadth in that area and continue to have it here,” Blecha said.
Junior business administration major Carl Prieto transferred to OU from Baker last semester. He said the school making cuts did not encourage him to make the move, but he did know what was happening.
“I did know they were making cuts because they had about $1 million deficit, and people had been laid off before,” he said. “But I was really surprised to see people’s Facebook statuses reacting to (the cuts).”
Prieto said he was really surprised that political science was eliminated, because he had a lot of friends in that major.
“We have an outstanding reputation in science,” Unrein said. “So if students are looking for a strong science education, hopefully they will look at OU.”
Doug Holub, assistant professor of chemistry at OU, said Ottawa University biology students have graduated very well prepared for graduate school.
“I’ve had a couple of grads say they graduated being very well prepared,” Holub said.
“Their knowledge level is well above what they’re expected.”