SBU suspends grad program

St. Bonaventure University's School of Franciscan Studies is suspending enrollment in its master of arts program for the 2010-11 academic year, university officials announced in a press release Tuesday.The university will continue other academic facets of the program, such as the summer session master's and advanced certification classes as well as continuing education programs without interruption. Those students already enrolled in the Franciscan Studies master's program will be able to complete their degrees on time.

By the end of the 2010-2011 academic year, the university hopes to have reassessed the program's needs and goals and have a plan in place for its future direction, said Michael Fischer, provost and vice president for academic affairs.

"(The program) will definitely take a different shape," he said. "The primary problem we're facing is diminishing vocations in North America, which is our natural audience in the Franciscan family. We don't have those people available anymore because they're not coming in as friars or sisters, so Franciscan education will have a different look in the future, and our involvement will be different."

The Franciscan Studies master's program currently has 11 on-site students and 13 summer students. By spring 2011, all but three off-site students will have completed their degrees, according to Father Michael Cusato, O.F.M., director of the Franciscan Institute and dean of the School of Franciscan Studies. He said although enrollment in the program has remained steady for the past few years, the projection for future years is uncertain at best.

Since the master's program will still offer summer classes, graduating with the degree is still a possibility. However, obtaining a degree will take five or six summers as opposed to two academic years, Father Michael said. This poses a problem for the program's many international students, a majority of whom depend on outside assistance to fund their studies at St. Bonaventure.

"It's just impossible for them to shuttle back and forth because almost all of our international students come to us scholarship-dependent," Fischer said. "So they don't have the resources even to do the program . to expect them to find transportation every summer, or even to stay in the States for five or six years, is not going to happen. So we're going to have to reach out to them in another way, perhaps electronically."

The administration plans on reassessing the program's new goals with the help of several different groups, one being the summer session faculty. Sister Margaret Carney, O.S.F., university president, said this staff has a unique perspective to offer.

"Father Michael has a faculty of persons who don't live and reside here and aren't employees of St. Bonaventure, but they come every summer to teach," she said. "They are wonderful colleagues who really understand and are committed to this program.

"What Dr. Fischer and I and Father Michael would like to do is arrange for a couple special meetings where we can sit down with people and say, 'We really need your thoughts and your assistance and your guidance on what might be some next steps to take for our educational program.'"

She said the accomplishments of Franciscan Studies alumni can also provide insights for administration to consider during the program reassessment.

"I think it would be really instructive for us to see what benefits this degree program created as a way of saying to people, when we make a determination of what is the next program we want to offer, 'Look at the quality of what we've done these 40 years.' We will guarantee that same quality will be here going forward," Sister Margaret said.

Although the academic portion of the Franciscan Institute has an uncertain immediate future, Fischer, Father Michael and Sister Margaret all stressed the master's program, though valuable, is just one part of the Institute's purpose. Other focuses, such as research, publication and translation of Franciscan documents and journals and participation in various off-campus conferences, will remain unaffected.

"Our faculty are asked very often to go to other places to present conferences or to present their research," Sister Margaret said. "You can say, 'gee, that's a small group of students,' but they have a very big audience internationally of people who want to hear the research they're doing."

e-mail: kiblerkj@sbu.edu