As part of the recommendations, Wilcox announced department reductions in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources from 13 to six departments.

The Department of Geological Sciences in the College of Natural Science also was recommended for closure.

In the College of Communication Arts and Sciences, the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders could close.

Wilcox also announced possible program discontinuances at all levels, such as the American Studies Program in the College of Arts and Letters.

Various undergraduate degrees also were recommended for discontinuance, such as those in the Veterinary Technology Program.

These and more recommendations will be discussed further in Academic Governance, President Lou Anna K. Simon said.

“There (are) no easy programmatic decisions,” she said. “We understand that all of the programs we offer are important … that makes this task even more difficult.”

Simon also announced university plans to aid students who are affected by the loss of funding for the Michigan Promise Scholarship.

For 2009-10, MSU will apply stimulus dollars at $1,000 per student to fully fund the loss of the scholarship for those with the highest needs. It will provide $500 per student for all others.

The university also will offset spring semester tuition, one time only, for all resident undergraduate students by $5 per credit.

For more on this story, read Monday’s edition of The State News.