Is the history major doomed on campus? A Wisconsin proposal will be watched nationwide

Karen Herzog | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Greg Summers may go down as the history professor who ended the history major at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

He might also, potentially, become the guy who helped save history at the central Wisconsin university by finding its sweet spot.

The UW-Stevens Point provost is both a historian and the chief architect of a sweeping proposal that attempts to transform the school with 7,725 students into "a new kind of regional university." A regional university without a history major. Or majors in German, French, geography, geology and two tracks within art (two-dimensional and three-dimensional). It would be a school of interdisciplinary "career-focused" majors.

A few other universities have tried something similar, but so far there are no proven success stories. The truth is, no one knows for sure whether the idea will work. But UW-Stevens Point has its back against the wall, facing a nearly $8 million structural deficit and enrollment that has dipped to a 45-year low. Its leaders needed to think outside the box.

What's happening at Stevens Point reflects conversations about higher education happening across the country. Many legislatures — and their constituencies — are demanding universities run themselves like businesses, with college seen as a stepping stone to a career. Cutting-edge science buildings rise up on campuses amid much fanfare; humanities classes are perceived as being at home in musty old buildings covered in ivy.

In addition, college history classes that often lead to students choosing history as a major are shrinking as more high school students earn college credit through advanced placement history classes. In that environment, smaller humanities departments are harder to support and justify.

There is pushback against that cultural shift in the way higher learning is perceived. Many educators argue that students are not products to be measured on an assembly line and that part of college is learning for the sake of learning. History is the No. 1 major of current Fortune 500 CEOs, and proponents of the humanities fear that skills like critical thinking, clear writing and effective communication are being dismissed.

History as a college major dates back to the 1890s. It's been a major at UW-Stevens Point since the 1950s. Summers, 50, believes history's saving grace may be infusing it and other liberal arts disciplines into so-called "career-focused," interdisciplinary majors. In other words, he wants to find a balance between the demands of a complex marketplace and the value of a well-rounded person.

History connects the dots, according to Summers. Historical context and "historical thinking" make history relevant, he argues.

"In history, the task isn't to teach content or simple facts about the past. Today, people can Google almost anything they want to know," Summers said.

"I care that tomorrow's professionals know how to think historically, that they understand that the past plays a vital role in shaping their roles and decisions today, no matter what profession they are in."

College of Natural Resources drew him there

Summers' approach is an extension of his own experience.

Producing the next generation of historians wasn't why he came to UW-Stevens Point in 2001, fresh out of UW-Madison's doctoral history program. Summers went against the advice of his own professors and mentors who discouraged him from going to a regional university that doesn't focus on research to advance the discipline.

What actually drew him to UW-Stevens Point was its highly regarded College of Natural Resources and a long-held belief about how history fits with other disciplines, he said.

"I wanted to make sure that every graduate in wildlife, land management, energy policy, or engineering understood that the decisions they were likely to make later in their careers would be better informed if they knew that history mattered and that, more important, they had learned how to ask and answer historical questions relevant to their work," Summers said.

"Knowledge has to be useful, and I want history to be useful in all of our disciplines. Not just history."

Summers' research interests are U.S. environmental history, the history of technology and consumerism. He published one book in 2006 — "Consuming Nature: Environmentalism in the Fox River Valley, 1850-1950" — and hopes to write more.

While he sees the role of a teacher to make history relevant in a classroom, he also believes it should be taken beyond the walls of a university.

"That's the essence of the Wisconsin Idea. I drank the Kool-Aid. And I drank it deeply,"

RELATED: UW-Stevens Point rolls out transformation that would cut 6 liberal arts degrees, focus on careers

Along those lines, Summers and Chancellor Bernie Patterson have proposed an "Institute for the Wisconsin Idea" that focuses on outreach.

Realign departments; cut faculty positions

Eliminating history as a major may be an especially tough sell for the History Department, which Summers chaired before being promoted to provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs.

Already, history professors are building cases against the proposal, which aims to boost enrollment with re-imagined majors and help whittle away the school's deficit in the process.

Under the proposal Patterson unveiled to the campus last Monday, traditional academic departments would be replaced by interdisciplinary, professional schools. Degree programs would be grouped to align with “career-focused" goals of students and talent needs of the region’s communities and business.

In the history department alone, four faculty positions would be eliminated.

"We're still working with faculty members in the history department to determine what new interdisciplinary programs they will offer, but there are several possibilities," Summers said.

What's a would-be history major to do?

History is historically significant in the careers of highly successful Americans. Think John F. Kennedy. Richard Nixon. Lee Iacocca.

Among other famous history majors: Former Vice President Joe Biden, former Attorney General Eric Holder, former U.S. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, former U.S. Senator and NBA star Bill Bradley, Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor and newly retired Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Don't forget comedians Conan O'Brien and Steve Carell, singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett and journalist Wolf Blitzer.

So what's an aspiring history major to do if the school phases out the history major?

“The key question to ask students is what is their intended outcome in studying history," the provost said.

"Part of the challenge a university has is to help students reach their goals. That's where advising becomes critical.”

The university is implementing a new advising model with 15 academic and career advisers, along with three career specialists. In addition, nine professional "specialist" advisers will continue in the colleges.

Passion for history? There are options.

Most students who come to campus with a strong interest in history want to be teachers, he said. They still could get a Social Science major for teacher certification. It's an interdisciplinary program that typically requires a minor in history. UW-Stevens Point also intends to keep its history minor, the provost said.

Some students with a passion for history may want to pursue graduate work in history. Summers said one option the university is exploring is to create an interdisciplinary Global Studies major that would provide coursework from many areas, including an emphasis in history. Under this option, students could pursue a Global Studies major and use that degree to pursue a master's or doctorate in history.

Numerous majors are available to students deeply interested in history, Summers said. The university is exploring the creation of an interdisciplinary Applied Humanities major with a discipline-specific emphasis in history, for example, and a required minor or certificate in a career-focused pathway such as business, law and government, or nonprofit/organizational leadership. "This major would serve students wanting to focus on the liberal arts, but in a way that is closely integrated with career-focused applications," the provost said.

Ultimately, UW System Chancellor Ray Cross will decide whether to recommend the UW Board of Regents approve the plan, which still needs much fleshing out through a 90-day campus review.

The question isn't whether UW-Stevens Point can do it, Cross said.

"It's can we do it well so it makes a difference and becomes a model?" he said. "If we do it well, then students from liberal arts colleges will be beating a path to our door, employers will be clamoring for our graduates and our graduates will be better citizens and better employed."