Sal Orlando, News Editor
The Virginia Commonwealth University Board of Visitors voted to consolidate six Master of Science programs into one in a Sept. 11 meeting.
The M.S. in Anatomy and Neurobiology, M.S. in Microbiology and Immunology, M.S. in Biochemistry, M.S. in Human Genetics, M.S. in Pharmacology and Toxicology and M.S. in Physiology and Biophysics will now become one program: the M.S. in Biomedical Sciences, according to the proposal.
Each program’s discontinuation is reasoned to be from a struggle to uphold “sufficient student enrollment.” A range of one to six students are enrolled in the six programs.
The changes will take effect this year, however students currently enrolled in the program will still be able to complete their original degree, David Oglethorpe, assistant vice president for Academic Affairs Communications, stated in an email.
The merged programs will no longer admit students at the beginning of the Fall 2027 semester.
Faculty who teach in any of the discontinued programs will continue teaching in other programs in the School of Medicine. Staff who are involved in the program will continue in other programs in the department, college or school.
“The academic affairs team is consistently evaluating demand and viability of all of our academic programs,” Oglethorpe stated. “Our goal is ensure that VCU offers our students the widest array of programs and flexible degree options.“
Current and lapsed students will be notified through email about their respective program’s closure next semester.
The committee that oversaw the proposal approved to recommend the merger in one motion, rather than the full committee voting during the Sep. 10 meeting. No committee members raised an issue with the method of passing the motion.
The board approved the merger in one block vote, including other action items, rather than voting on it individually during the Sep. 11 meeting.