Enrolment resumes for 12 of 16 programs the University of Guelph put on pause in 2023 have been resumed.
Part of a 13th program is also resuming.
Prospective students can apply for these programs and begin studies as early as summer 2025. Transfer students can apply to enrol for winter 2025, the U of G said on its website.
The pause on the programs last year meant no new first-year students could be admitted into the programs.Those who had already been accepted were offered an alternative spot in a similar program, as previously reported by GuelphToday.
With the programs resuming intake the departments, schools and colleges can move forward in determining its academic offerings, said in a press release.
Here are the undergraduate programs where enrolment has resumed with some exceptions:
- BA art history
- BA European studies - program closed at the request of the department
- BBRM food industry management (regular and co-op)
- BSc biodiversity
- BSc biological and medical physics (regular and co-op) - previously approved to resume intake
- BSc chemical physics (regular and co-op)
- BSc environmental biology - program closed at the request of the department
- BSc environmental geomatics (regular and co-op) - now BSc in environmental sciences, earth observation and GIS, previously approved to resume intake
- BSc nanoscience (regular and co-op)
- BSc plant science (regular and co-op) - previously approved to resume enrolment
- BSc theoretical physics
Here are the graduate programs where enrolment has resumed with one exception:
- MA art history (thesis and course based)
- MA critical studies in improvisation (course based)
- MA Latin American and Caribbean studies (thesis and course based)
- MSc clinical studies (course based)
- MSc family relations and applied nutrition (course based, CFT field) - field closed at the request of the department
The programs that have closed are BA European studies, BSc environmental biology, and MSc family relations and applied nutrition CFT field. The course based version of MSc family relations and applied nutrition is still available.
Before the programs were put on pause the list was decided after deans and associate deans gave their recommendations and responses on them, said Gwen Chapman, then provost and vice-president academic at U of G, in a previous GuelphToday article.
The programs that were paused had less than 40 students in them at the undergraduate level and less than 10 at the graduate level, with consistently low and declining enrolments and applications.
In the GuelphToday article Chapman said it was roughly 12 or 14 years ago U of G went through a similar process with talks about closing a number of programs but didn’t include a “pause phase.”
In 2023, the next step of the assessment process for the 16 programs was decisions on if a program can be revitalized through a curriculum overhaul, be merged with another program or if the program should just close.
Over the past year and a half, efforts have been made to enhance the selected programs and changes have been approved through the U of G governance process and these changes remain, said in a press release.
“We extend our gratitude to the faculty and staff whose creativity and hard work have been integral to ensuring that U of G’s academic programs continue to inspire and equip future leaders,” said Bill Rosehart, provost and vice-president academic at U of G, in a press release. “We look forward to welcoming students to these programs.”
