Students and faculty from the medical laboratory science major, wearing their white lab coats, filled the AMU ballroom at the University Academic Senate meeting Monday to urge senators to vote against closing their 90-year-old department.
The University Board of Undergraduate Studies rejected the termination of the MLSC major, and on Monday, UAS stood behind their rejection. However, the future of the major isn’t solidified yet, as UAS and UBUS serve as advisory boards to Marquette leaders.
The proposal is in front of Acting Provost Sarah Feldner right now, and he will make a final decision to either reject the termination proposal or sunset the program.
Medical Lab Scientists are health professionals that collect and analyze tests you take at a hospital or doctor’s office. One of Marquette’s MLSC majors, Chris Ludwig, a junior in the College of Health Sciences, explained the importance of the program.
“As I learned about the possible closure of our program, something we needed became readily apparent to me: Recognition,” Ludwig said. “There are no TV shows made about our work, but most patients put their lives in our hands, and they don’t even know it.”
How was the program identified for possible termination?
Normally, termination proposals come from inside departments or colleges, but this time, the program was identified by the Marquette 2031: Securing Our Future steering committee.
Announced last academic year, the Securing Our Future plan aims to reduce Marquette’s spending by $31 million by 2031 and reinvest 40% back into the university, MLSC was included in a proposal to cut or modify 15 programs.
In the review process, William Cullinan, dean of the College of Health Sciences, was asked to submit ideas for cost savings and revenue generation, but the Securing Our Future committee rejected the revenue generating ideas and recommended the MLSC major to be terminated in a report from September 2024.
Cullinan is a member of UAS and voted against the rejection of the termination during the meeting.
In support of termination, the College of Health Sciences said they’d save $512,944 from 2026-2031 if the program was terminated.
Rational in support and against the termination:
In terms of enrollment, the proposal suggests the program popularity has declined due to competition from other colleges in Wisconsin and Illinois, and despite the introduction of an undergraduate MLSC certificate, enrollment still declined.
Since 2015, there’s been an inability to fill the 18 spots available for undergraduates in each class. None of the cohorts since then have met the benchmark of 18 students per class. In 2015, there were 44 total students in the program, compared to 34 in 2024.
Erik Munson, chair of the MLSC program, said there might be potential inaccuracies in enrollment data provided by the college. He said there’s been a 28% increase in five-year enrollment since 2020, and a possible disconnect between the numbers provided by the college and what’s on MLSC grade rosters.
He said that on documents submitted by the college, the 2024 number was off by eight students, and each year since 2015, the number of students according the grade rosters was higher, but it’s unclear at this point why there was a disconnect.
In addition to Munson’s argument, other supporters of rejecting the termination said the MLSC major at Marquette is unique because of its guaranteed clinical placement in Milwaukee, direct-admit and accelerated degree option.
Munson also described how valuable the MLSC department was during COVID-19, as they had testing available on campus, and have performed 12,000 STD tests for not only the Marquette community but three other universities in the area.
“How does this happen? It’s largely because of the people in the back here, students in lab coats and alumni in the community. This is the reason we do it,” Munson said.
What other options would prospective students have if Marquette’s program was terminated?
In support of keeping the major available, Marquette’s program was compared to other MLSC programs in Wisconsin and Illinois.
Wisconsin-wide, there are four other universities with the program, none of which provide guaranteed internship placement in Milwaukee or direct admit.
The Illinois universities don’t offer post baccalaureate MLS certificates or an accelerated degree program like Marquette. However, Illinois State University has direct admit and a guaranteed internship policy.
Compared to its closest competitor, UW-Milwaukee, Marquette has a 93.6% first time pass rate on the board exam, compared to UWM’s 72.4% rate from 2019-2023. Marquette also had a higher mean score.
In identifying this program for termination, the Securing our Future steering committee said it’s unclear if the program could grow with the resources they have and pointed to an expected decline in the number of college-age students in the coming years.
Now that UBUS and UAS have made their stance, the proposal with information for and against the termination is given to Feldner, who will make the final call.
This story was written by Sophia Tiedge. She can be reached at sophia.tiedge@marquette.edu.
