The future of virtually every academic program and support service at the University of Saskatchewan is sketched out in two lengthy documents released today.

The task force reports rank each program and service into one of five slots: those recommended for "enhanced resourcing," those to be maintained with current resources, those to be kept with reduced resources, those to be restructured for efficiency or effectiveness, and those to be phased out subject to further review.

The U of S is searching high and low for ways to permanently cut $20-25 million, or five per cent, from its operating budget.

900 programs and support services reviewed

In all, close to 900 programs and support services were reviewed over the past several months. Among the programs tagged for more resources are the Crop Development Centre, the Institute of Space and Atmospheric Studies, and the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization - International Vaccine Centre (VIDO-InterVac).

Among those tagged for closure are the Centre for Northern Agroforestry and Afforestation, and numerous degree programs in anthropology and archaeology, drama, women's and gender studies, music, languages, religions and culture, engineering, and biochemistry.

For the next eight weeks, senior administrators at the university will be gathering feedback from faculty, staff and students.

After that, a committee will develop an implementation plan by the end of April. The changes will still have to be approved by various governing academic bodies before decisions are final.

If approved, some measures will be taken immediately, while others, especially academic programs, may take until 2016 and beyond to fully implement, the university said in a release.

Replay the Saskatoon Morning live chat about the university's planned cuts.