This article was originally published prior to June 2, 2013.  Due to a change in content management systems, the initial publication date is not available.

With Baker University working to balance the budget, some members of the Baker community are worried about how budget cuts could affect their department as well as the students enrolled in them.

“We are working on changes for the better,” Instructor of Music Marci Ziegler said. “It is important to us that we still do our jobs and what needs to be done to provide students with the education and opportunities they need to be successful.”

While students are active in the music program, Ziegler believes enrollment numbers are low because the music programs are more like extracurricular activities.

The music department is somewhat self-sustaining, however, because it offers private lessons and other programs that force students to pay extra money, Ziegler said.

Despite the budget, the members have been coming up with new ideas with help from some newer, younger faculty that will hopefully increase enrollment.

While the religion major has struggled in the past, Professor of Religion George Wiley said enrollment has increased over the last two years. Wiley said there are currently nine students enrolled in the program.

“I’m really happy with the quality of students both academically and who they are as an individual,” Wiley said.

Wiley said the department is lucky in that it is a low-cost program, with no lab and low salary costs. Because of this, the department hasn’t had to experience any cuts.

Other majors with low enrollment numbers include art education, art history, economics, French and music.

But not all departments are struggling to pull their numbers up. The business department had 41 students enrolled last year and more than 200 students in the program since 2004.

Even members of successful departments are feeling the strains of budget cuts.

Professor of Psychology Marc Carter said even though the psychology department is successful, it still deals with cuts in the budget. For the time being, the department is expecting to cut back on some of the student activities, conference costs and some of the laboratory projects in the upper-level courses.<br/>