Cut departments aim for visibility

The ax may have fallen, but its victims have survived. Amidst fierce debate, the American Civilization and Regional Science departments were cut in January by the University Board of Trustees, effective last June. But in spite of this, the programs are still up and running, with majors still completing their degrees with very little observable change. The Am Civ program, under the direction of Undergraduate Chairperson Melvyn Hammarberg, is still intact and accepting new majors. Murray Murphey is serving as acting chairperson for this year while Hammarberg is on leave. "What's happened is that [Am Civ] has been reorganized," Murphey said. "There's no change as far as anything involving the students is concerned." The current graduate program has about 40 to 50 students, and the undergraduate program has about 60 majors. "The University is really dedicated to our majors," Murphey said. "The courses in the major will continue just as last year, although we've increased considerably the number of cross-listed courses." But Murphey is concerned that students have written off the department. "A lot of people on the campus seem to think we're no longer in existence," Murphey said. "Reports of our death have been exaggerated. We'd like to assure people that they can still major in Am Civ." Murphey said although this year's enrollment is "pretty good," the "story has been coming back to us from students that?they think we're not here anymore." "They're obviously planning to continue the program at least for the next five years," he said. "But I wouldn't even speculate on the future of the program." Although the Regional Science Department has suffered a worse fate than Am Civ, its graduate group remains in existence. Former Department Chairperson Stephen Gale said the undergraduate program has not been able to accept new majors this year. But, he added, no changes will affect the current majors. "Fundamentally, what happened was that we didn't fit into any of the standard categories," he said. "It was an excellent program with a funny name." Gale explained that the need for such a program is vital, but may need to be relocated in another school. "I can't imagine that on careful analysis of the program, that someone would want to keep it discontinued," he said. "Everyone wants one of these things, but the question is 'Where does it go at Penn?'" Gale said the former department placed all of its students in "really good jobs." Nevertheless, lack of funds forced School of Arts and Sciences Dean Rosemary Stevens to propose the department cut. "From my point of view, I see that there are things that should be done in Regional Science," Gale said. "But as things stand, we really have to have some impetus to recreate things now." Current Graduate Group Chairperson Tony Smith said the future of the program is very uncertain. "Given that we were totally surprised by the fact that they cut our department, we can't be sure of anything in the future," he said. "Our courses are going to be reduced and we have several faculty retiring." Smith said all directors of graduate programs have been asked to submit mission statements to clarify their goals and revisions. A task force on Regional and Urban Studies was also formed last semester, chaired by Public Policy and Management Professor Emeritus Anita Summers. The recommendations made by the task force include "improving some existing programs in their current schools, moving some programs to schools where standing faculty are available to teach them, and establishing a serious and visible urban/regional students identity by establishing a new Urban/Regional Research Institute." Current Regional Studies courses are still being offered, but have been reassigned to different departments. Gale said while he understands "all of the complexities of running a University," he does not understand why the Regional Science Department was targeted. "I'm not going to get out there with a sign and say the dean was wrong," he said. "But to not have said at the same time, 'Hey, this is a really good program' -- that was a mistake."