Auburn University denies The Wall Street Journal’s report that its athletic department pressured school officials to keep the public administration major.
An academic program review committee voted 13-0 to remove the major in 2013, according to Ben Cohen’s article, “At Auburn, Athletics and Academics Collide.”
The WSJ reported emails show athletics officials offered to fund the major and have made similar investments in other academic programs that have not been publicized.
“Auburn’s academic community makes all academic program and curriculum decisions,” an Auburn representative told WSJ. “Auburn is fully committed to the integrity of its academic programs.”
According to WSJ, 26 players, or 32 percent of the 2014 football team, were majoring in public administration.
Timothy Boosinger, provost and vice president for academic affairs, sent an email to faculty Sept. 1.
A program review team recommended the undergraduate major be converted into a minor, according to Boosinger’s email.
He said he identified resources that made it unnecessary to close a “viable and long-established undergraduate program.”
“That is a boring story, I fear, but it is the truth,” Boosinger said in the email.
Kathleen Hale, public administration program director and associate professor in the department of political science, said any insinuation that the public administration major is low-quality is inaccurate and unfair to students and alumni.
“It is important to note that the issue about discontinuing the public administration major was never about quality, but was about resources and the lack of enough faculty to support a major,” Hale said.
People with degrees in public administration are public servants, according to the University’s website. They can work in local, state and national government.
Graduates have supervised city parks and recreation programs, served as political analysts and administered private, non-profit organizations.
Mike Clardy, director of University communications, sent The Auburn Plainsman a statement on behalf of Auburn University President Jay Gogue.
Gogue denied being involved in the decision making process and emphasized the athletics department’s commitment to academics.
“It’s important to note that Auburn Athletics has and continues to serve as a partner to the University’s academic mission,” the statement said. “Among other things, Auburn Athletics has endowed professorships, contributed to the marching band’s capital campaign and financially supports the veterans Yellow Ribbon program.”
Joseph Aistrup, the dean of the College of Liberal Arts who made the decision to keep public administration, gave a statement to The Plainsman regarding his ruling.
“The academic program review report indicated that political science wanted to eliminate this degree because the department did not have the faculty resources to continue to support the major,” Aistrup said in an email. “As the new dean, I was willing to provide the necessary resources to continue this major.
“Shortly after I arrived on campus, I had a meeting with the new chair of political science and the program director of public administration. At that meeting, I asked if hiring a lecturer in political science would help to alleviate the burden. They indicated it would, and thus supported continuing the program.”
Aistrup, who earned a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Fort Hays State in 1982, said saving the public administration program was the first recommendation he made to the provost in 2013 when he was made dean of liberal arts.
“I have a public administration background and believe strongly in the academic viability of this undergraduate major,” Aistrup said in an email.
Aistrup said he attended his first Auburn football game shortly after arriving on campus. He said he noticed a number of football players were enrolled in the public administration major.
“This is not a violation of any rule or a sign of academic fraud,” Aistrup said. “Simply put, there are no NCAA rules limiting the number of players that can share a major.
“Later in September, I had a meeting with the new chair of political science and the program director of public administration. At that meeting, I asked if hiring a lecturer in political science would provide them with the necessary resources to continue to support public administration. They indicated it would, and thus they supported continuing the public administration program too.”
Gus Malzahn, football coach, said athletes have complete control over what they major in.
“Each individual player, they pick their major,” Malzahn said. “They pick what they want to graduate [in] and what they want to do in life.”
University statements on WSJ article by The Auburn Plainsman
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