The University of St. Thomas — named after philosopher and theologian St. Thomas Aquinas — may eliminate philosophy programs, a signal of financial strain and a broader move toward professional programs at the private Montrose school.

Administrators are reviewing student interest, department offerings and existing costs this month in advance of a June board meeting, sparking outcry among alumni and faculty. Supporters have raised more than $11,500 for a faculty legal defense fund amid fear that the review will spur large-scale cuts.

Robert Ivany, the university's departing president, withheld annual contracts from tenured English and philosophy professors on May 15, when he alerted them to a department review for potential reorganization or program elimination. Growing financial deficits brought the review, he said, and those departments were selected as St. Thomas adapts to greater interest in science, technology, engineering, math and nursing. English professors received contracts later last week after faculty negotiation.

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St. Thomas faculty and alumni said they see Ivany's letter and the possible elimination of department programs as a betrayal of the institution's core.

The Basilian Fathers — who emphasize Catholic philosophy and theology as crucial to higher education — founded the university 70 years ago. Today, St. Thomas holds as its mission statement a commitment to the Catholic intellectual tradition and the interplay between faith and reason. The university enrolled about 3,300 students last fall, and it says its Center for Thomistic Studies is the only graduate philosophy program focused on St. Thomas Aquinas' thought in the U.S.

Faculty are "scared" to see philosophy programs "on the chopping block," said Ramon Fernandez, an accounting professor. "It means that the university really is in a financial crisis, or they are just going to switch gears and move in other directions, maybe STEM."

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Experts say private colleges have moved toward more practical disciplines as concerns over college costs and the value of a degree have grown.

Nationwide, many low-income and minority students seek pre-professional programs as the country recovers from the economic recession, said Richard Ekman, president of the Council of Independent Colleges.

And in Texas, many independent colleges have responded to guidance from state leaders by emphasizing science, technology, engineering and math degrees, said Ray Martinez, president of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas.

Ivany has similarly situated St. Thomas. The university opened a Center for Science and Health Profession last month, supported by $47.3 million in donations. It enrolled its first nursing students since the 1980s in 2012.

Today, the school's most popular majors are biology, psychology, finance and nursing.

But the university, like many small to mid-sized private institutions, is facing financial strain. Private colleges' high tuition prices can be a turn-off to families, though financial aid lowers the sticker price for many students. And unlike large private research universities, smaller institutions tend to have smaller endowments to lean on — St. Thomas' declined about 5 percent year over year to about $81 million, according to a recent report.

Ivany said he expects this year's deficit to be between $1.4 and $1.6 million. Last year's, he said, was about $700,000.

"Change is an integral part of higher education today," Ivany said, saying that St. Thomas has built professional programs on top of the university's Catholic Basilian identity. "The fact that you've got to review different departments and get the deficit eliminated is part of higher education today as well."

His letters to faculty brought alarm on campus and among alumni. Word of the delayed contract spread to an alumni Facebook group last week. Sasha Pejerrey, a biology major who graduated in 2011, said she chose St. Thomas because of its humanities programs, though she wanted to study science.

Undergraduate philosophy and English courses guided her work today in the Texas Medical Center, she said, recalling bioethics courses and learning how to write effectively in English classes. "Those are the core pillars of St. Thomas. Those are the professors who are the lifeblood of the school."

Kenneth Depew, 34, of Houston called the philosophy department a crucial piece of St. Thomas' academic offerings.

"St. Thomas is never going to be A&M," said Depew, who graduated in 2013 with a philosophy minor. "It's never going to be one of those Med Center medical schools. They're setting themselves up for failure by trying to be what they're not."

Professors from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and the University of Cologne in Germany wrote to St. Thomas administrators supporting philosophy.

"In our estimation the (Center for Thomistic Studies) is one of the top three graduate programs in the English-speaking world for the study of Thomas Aquinas and, more broadly, the field of Catholic Philosophy and Theology," wrote the president and dean of Thomas Aquinas College in California to St. Thomas administrators.

The dispute brings to a head a strained relationship between faculty and Ivany, who is retiring later this year after 13 years as president. Professors voted no confidence in his administration last spring, months after he announced he would step down. They cited a lack of budgetary transparency in their complaints.

St. Thomas faculty said they take issue with the process of the program review, not just the decision to re-evaluate course offerings. Faculty contracts specify that full-time professors will receive contracts for the following year by May 15, which English and philosophy professors did not.

Further, the Association of American University Professors, a trade group that defends tenure and faculty nationwide, says a university should tell professors if their program is being considered for elimination. Faculty members should be invited to participate in those discussions, said Hans-Joerg Tiede, associate secretary of the AAUP's academic freedom, tenure and governance department.

Seven English and philosophy professors told the Chronicle that they did not know their departments were under review until they received Ivany's letter on Monday.

"It nullifies faculty tenure across the board," said John Hittinger, who leads St. Thomas's philosophy department. "If he can do it to 18 of us, then no one is safe."

Ivany said university policy does not require faculty input during department evaluation. The Board of Directors can terminate faculty contracts because of a decline in enrollment, consolidation of departments or other reorganization, termination of programs or courses or severe financial crisis.

He declined to comment on potential legal action and said all professors would receive contracts by June 12, four days after the next board meeting. Some tenured faculty members may receive a terminal contract instead of a continuous contract, he said.

About 10 undergraduate philosophy majors graduated each year from St. Thomas between 2011-12 and 2015-16, about in line with the average of all majors. But master's and doctorate graduate programs in philosophy were less popular than graduate degree programs as a whole.

Michael Olivas, who directs the University of Houston's higher education law and governance institute, said withholding a contract based on a review process that has not yet concluded is out of line with accepted practices.

"I go to bed every night praying for clients like this," he said. "It's pretty clear to me that the institution hasn't followed their own rules. ... You can't run an enterprise like this on good faith."