Doomed depts. on last legs

Trustee committee votes to ax Am Civ, Regional Science The University Trustees' Academic Policy Committee voted unanimously yesterday to recommend closing the American Civilization and Regional Science departments. The committee also recommended the merger of the Astronomy and Physics departments into the Department of Physics and Astronomy, which will study and research the field of astrophysics. The recommendations, first proposed by School of Arts and Sciences Dean Rosemary Stevens in September, will be voted on by the full Board of Trustees today. A decision on the fate of the Religious Studies Department, which Stevens also is proposing to eliminate, has been postponed. Although the committee passed the resolution presented by Interim Provost Marvin Lazerson, the wording of the resolution is to be enhanced before the full board votes on it today, said Academic Policy Committee Chairperson Donald Langenberg. "The general consensus [of the committee] is that the resolution should carry a sense that the trustees expect the faculty and administration to make every effort possible, consistent with available resources and as expeditiously as possible, to enhance [the University's] overall strength in the areas represented by the departments," Langenberg said. Although the two departments are being cut and the other merged, neither the administration nor the committee is passing judgment on the importance of these subject areas, Langenberg said. The existence of departmental structure is not necessary for the study of these subject areas, he added. "[Cutting the departments] may cause these concentrations to diffuse and lose strength, but this is not necessarily going to happen," Langenberg said. "I am certain that Astronomy will be strengthened by the merger, though." The closing of the Regional Science and Am Civ departments will not mean an end to the study of those subjects at the University. The University is currently considering whether to develop an American Civilization undergraduate program similar to the International Relations program. Lazerson cited a number of the reasons that Stevens targeted these specific departments for closure. The first, said Lazerson, was that the departments of regional science, American civilization and astronomy had long been low priorities of the administration. The "non-commitment of many years" is being finished off by closing the departments, he said. "Substantial investments would have to be made to bring the three departments up to a level the school would find acceptable," Lazerson added. "Because of the financial situation, the University is not prepared to make these investments." Lazerson also told the committee that a University committee on academic freedom and responsibility concluded that Stevens did not violate academic freedom, according to a memorandum circulated by former Provost Michael Aiken in 1991 outlining the proper procedure for departmental closure. And while Langenberg said critics of the cuts have had ample opportunity to express their opinions, he admitted the process surrounding departmental cuts was far from perfect. "There has not been much practice at [cutting the departments], thereby allowing little chance to perfect the process," he said.