Is the history major doomed on campus?

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. ...