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Post by captaggie on Apr 13, 2011 6:43:02 GMT -5
The A&T Register Foreign language department axed By By LaRia Land The Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Dr. Goldie Byrd announced to students and staff on March 31 that the Bachelor of Arts degree programs within the Foreign Language Department would no longer be offered in the areas of Spanish and French, and the department would be completely phased out in two years. She stated, the University was acting on a mandate from administration within the UNC system to assess which academic programs were high or low producing and to make the necessary cuts to off set budget restraints. "We are [undergoing] very serious financial stress," said Dr. David Aldridge, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies. Performance evaluations look at the department's graduation rates within the last five years, and a degree program is considered low producing if in two consecutive years it does not graduate a minimal of 20 students. In the last two academic school years before the review was conducted, 2008-2009 and 2009- 2010, the Foreign Language Department only graduated nine students in both Spanish and French, and since the 2005-2006 academic school year the most students to graduate from both degree programs combined has been six in a single year. Furthermore, Byrd stated that this decision was not a "reflection of the quality of education" within the department or its professors.... ....The Department of Foreign Languages was the youngest degree program to be cut, currently servicing 30 students from all classification levels, and the administration acknowledged this was only the first round. Entire article: www.ncatregister.com/foreign-language-department-axed-1.2535230
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Freeze
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Post by Freeze on Apr 13, 2011 10:21:13 GMT -5
Man that sucks. Seems ironic when the Business School is one of the anchors of the university. With business becoming more global it's disappointing that we won't have a way to equip our students with the bilingual tools they'll need to compete. Oh well...better get Rosetta Stone.
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Post by SixtiesAggie on Apr 13, 2011 10:41:10 GMT -5
You can still take foreign languages, just can't major in them.
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Post by aggiebred09 on Apr 13, 2011 10:53:24 GMT -5
They don't even require a foreign language as a requirement for business. Its one of those obvious steps that we should be taking. A resource that if used could help Business, International Studies and Study Abroad.
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@ProfBellamy
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Post by @ProfBellamy on Apr 13, 2011 12:59:41 GMT -5
They don't even require a foreign language as a requirement for business. Its one of those obvious steps that we should be taking. A resource that if used could help Business, International Studies and Study Abroad. There are a few areas that have a foreign language requirement, or at least used to have one. However, I would hope that in the new strategic plan that is being finalized that global competency will pushed more than it was under the last plan. However, its my understanding that Liberal Studies or English will be the recipient of the remaining faculty members. Also, through programs in Liberal Studies a student could essentially get a degree in one of the foreign languages with the interdisciplinary concentration, or possibly a foreign language concentration. The dissolving and realignment of programs and departments will continue to happen. However, we also must require faculty to improve upon their ability to produce scholarly materials and bring in research monies outside of the STEM fields to support the institution.
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Post by SixtiesAggie on Apr 13, 2011 15:03:17 GMT -5
As I said earlier, foreign languages are still being taught. There will be mergers and/or consolidations, not only at A&T but throughout the university system.
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Post by aggiebred09 on Apr 13, 2011 20:33:47 GMT -5
As I said earlier, foreign languages are still being taught. There will be mergers and/or consolidations, not only at A&T but throughout the university system. I don't think anyone is disputing that. Were referring to the steps the university should take to infuse foreign language classes into other current major curriculums.
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Post by captaggie on Apr 13, 2011 21:23:32 GMT -5
... However, we also must require faculty to improve upon their ability to produce scholarly materials and bring in research monies outside of the STEM fields to support the institution. Very good point.
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Post by DOOMS on Apr 14, 2011 6:22:00 GMT -5
According to the faculty I've talked to over the years, they simply don't have the free time to do so. They are busy teaching a heavy classload and doing almost remedial education to a fair number of their students.
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@ProfBellamy
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Post by @ProfBellamy on Apr 14, 2011 10:44:25 GMT -5
According to the faculty I've talked to over the years, they simply don't have the free time to do so. They are busy teaching a heavy classload and doing almost remedial education to a fair number of their students. I won't dispute that, a number of my favorite professors I had while taking 100 & 200 level courses had very heavy courseloads in addition to doing work that high schools and community colleges should have been doing. However, I know that in the revisions to the tenure process I believe in 2009, faculty research production has become a larger part of the requirements for tenure. Battle and Martin both have made it clear that research is an important part of the academic environment, especially as we add more research based graduate programs. As some of our seasoned faculty retire, there will be a shift. You can see alot of our young faculty who are on the tenure-track now are making huge strides. So I am very excited about the future, we must support these new faculty members.
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Freeze
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Post by Freeze on Apr 14, 2011 11:13:01 GMT -5
However, I know that in the revisions to the tenure process I believe in 2009, faculty research production has become a larger part of the requirements for tenure. Battle and Martin both have made it clear that research is an important part of the academic environment, especially as we add more research based graduate programs. I don't want to shift the convo away from the topic at hand, but Dooms is making a solid point. It is the great paradox of HBCU's and the tenure process. We want great teachers who produce first class publications and research but we saddle them with a ridiculous teaching load, few or no graduate assistants to help with grading, and students whose remedial skills retard the learning process and further complicate grading. Over the years I have become more sensitive to my fellow African American peers who shun teaching at HBCU's because they understand the ridiculous standards and lack of resources that define our institutions. It's like our expectations in Back college sports. We have champagne taste (and expectations) on a Cisco budget. Morgan touts itself as a Research One institution...but all my friends who teach and who have tenure at REAL Research One institutions teach two courses, have a team of TA's to help them grade, get a paid semester off just to do research, have a litany of resources at their fingertips to assist them with their work, and get paid more too (although salaries at some HBCU's have greatly improved). It just does not measure up with the HBCU environment.
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Post by aggiebred09 on Apr 14, 2011 11:41:53 GMT -5
According to the faculty I've talked to over the years, they simply don't have the free time to do so. They are busy teaching a heavy classload and doing almost remedial education to a fair number of their students. I wonder if any high scholarship seniors could help in the remediation of low performing students. We seem to always under utilize the talent at our disposal. A departmental study hall ran by a few trust worthy upper class-men or graduate students may prove a cost effective alternative to a professor having to use his research time helping students.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2011 12:27:41 GMT -5
Well with the state of NC slashing the UNC System Budget by upwards of 15 percent, things like this will happen. I wonder if A&T will have to go through a process of Academic restructuring of majors similar to what Howard is doing?
On another note: I wonder if the increasing of our admission requirements would help with our professors in reducing their course loads therefore, gaining more time to conduct research that will bring in more money for the university?
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Post by captaggie on Apr 14, 2011 13:11:52 GMT -5
We are getting a better student. While I don't have historical data, the profile for the 2011 incoming class is: GPA 3.24 & SAT 946. Continuation of this trend will relieve remedial efforts and allow us to redirect resources toward graduate/research efforts. Obviously, this will take time, especially with the current budget challenges.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2011 13:30:43 GMT -5
We are getting a better student. While I don't have historical data, the profile for the 2011 incoming class is: GPA 3.24 & SAT 946. Continuation of this trend will relieve remedial efforts and allow us to redirect resources toward graduate/research efforts. Obviously, this will take time, especially with the current budget challenges. Well that's good to know. And I understand that it will take time. "Rome wasn't built in a day."
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