UVUSA fights to keep one-credit courses

Matthew Drachman

February 3, 2022

schedule 4 min read
The Student Council has drafted a petition to prevent the cancellation of one-credit physical education science courses at UVU. Illustration by Kate Hickman.

Members of the Student Council have drafted a petition to prevent the cancellation of one-credit physical education science courses at UVU.

Ethan Morse, vice president of academics, was informed by students that many P.E.S. courses will no longer be available after the spring semester. Morse states, “Classes like yoga, palliates, and women’s self-defense would be continued under the health science department. However, UVU will be losing a lot of classes that matter to students.”

Many classes such as volleyball, weight training, and other courses that are worth one-credit hour are at risk of being canceled for two major reasons, according to Morse. The first was changing the curriculum that made it so one-credit courses were no longer required, along with the PES department lacking sufficient staffing and financial resources from the College of Science necessary to offer the courses.

Morse, along with UVUSA, began to gather student signatures to try and show student support for these courses, arguing that these courses were essential to many students.

“My next move was to see how students felt,” said Morse. “As of January 27th, we have collected 850 signatures from students who want to keep the one-credit course. Many signees left feedback on why they want the classes to remain.”

The three recurring reasons that Morse found were: firstly, students see these classrooms as places for socialization opportunities; secondly, they helped to improve the mental health of students and balance out other classes; thirdly, having a one-credit course to balance out credit requirements helps a lot of students meet essential credit hour requirements to receive financial aid and scholarships.

“I’m just trying to get as many [signatures] as possible. The P.E.S. department seemed willing to continue the courses if they had the funding they needed,” said Morse. “It’s important to recognize that these classes are 90% full on average and service college students all across campus.”

According to Morse, the funding problem, which has been crucial for these courses, has come from the College of Science and their funding for exercise science. According to the UVU Budget Report from 2021-2022, of the total $23 million budget, exercise science makes up about 11% of it.

Andrew Creer, department chair for P.E.S., commented on the cancellation of these classes and the reasons for it saying, “It is correct that the [exercise science] department will no longer be offering the one credit PES activity courses, but this is more an infrastructure issue as opposed to a funding one, although funding plays a role in infrastructure.”

Creer went on to explain that since the P.E.S. courses are not required to receive exercise science (ESOR) degrees, and that their administration detracts from other essential ESOR programs, “Essentially, ESOR (as currently structured) does not have the infrastructure to support a healthy PES activity program.”

Mentioning how the department has made several attempts to find another home for these courses on campus, Creer told the review that these efforts have been unsuccessful, “This has been a very tough decision for ESOR, but necessary under the circumstances.”

“I encourage students to sign the petition if they haven’t already,” implored Morse. “I’m also working to meet with UVU leadership to let them know the situation and see if we can come up with a solution that’s in the best interest of students. I am optimistic that something can be done.”

Morse has requested that all students interested in getting involved to contact him at [email protected]. Furthermore, he wished for anyone to sign the petition to do so.

“These classes matter to students, and I’ll continue to fight for them in every way I can,” stated Morse.