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After all the rhetoric and protests and open forums and blogging, this is what the review of 29 academic programs at Radford University boils down to: one certificate -- a post-baccalaureate certificate in Appalachian Studies -- that averages only three students a year.

As rector and vice rector of the Radford University board of visitors, we are not academics but are proud RU alumni. While we're delighted at the passion displayed by RU students over their academic curriculum, we admit to being a bit perplexed by the controversy that this review process has aroused.

Like all institutions, Radford faces significant cuts in its budget. In an effort to deal with this fiscal stress as carefully and responsibly as we can, the RU administration is using a familiar review process based on guidelines established by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia -- a review we ought to be following even in good times.

Here at Radford, 29 programs were identified for program review because they failed to meet at least one of four standards RU established based on SCHEV guidelines. Together, the undergraduate degree programs under review comprised only 7 percent of all undergraduate majors and 6 percent of recent undergraduate degrees awarded.

Five of the 29 programs opted out of the review process and chose to voluntarily discontinue or cease enrollments while they attempt to restructure to become more viable: the anthropology degree and post-baccalaureate certificates in information technology, informatics, teaching English to speakers of other languages, and professional development in library media.

Current anthropology majors will of course be allowed to graduate with their degree, and the university hopes to develop a new, more science-based physical anthropology major under the auspices of the newly approved School of Environmental and Physical Sciences.

Of the remaining 24 programs, the committee voted to recommend -- recommend, mind you -- that only one program be discontinued: the post-baccalaureate certificate in Appalachian Studies. This certificate program averages only three students a year. Despite the recommendation, Provost Wil Stanton is granting the certificate program an additional two years to become viable. The certificate program aside, the Appalachian Studies program will continue to offer a slate of courses as well as an Appalachian Studies minor.

There has been much confusion over academic majors and the curriculum. Some programs have been recommended to be continued but with restructuring. A good example is geography, which has a downward enrollment trend and currently fields only 32 majors out of an undergraduate population of more than 8,100. While we obviously intend to maintain a range of courses in geography, the major clearly needs changes to retain its long-term viability.

This review has been criticized by some as an attack on RU's liberal arts tradition. But this fall, RU offered 786 liberal arts courses from philosophy to religion to Chinese and Arabic (which is more than the five-year average of 773 courses) and expects to offer at least that many for fall 2009.

Perhaps it's fitting that this review occurs as Radford University prepares to celebrate its Centennial in 2010. Radford was founded with the focus on preparing women for the profession of teaching. We are proud of this tradition, but we have also evolved in dramatic ways over the past 99 years.

This year we enrolled our first doctoral students in the field of counseling psychology, and two more doctoral programs will come on line soon in physical therapy and nursing practice.

As we introduce the new, we must also take advantage of such opportunities as the SCHEV-mandated academic program review to assess our current offerings. It's the only way to stay relevant as Radford University ventures forth into its second century of service to the commonwealth.