COLUMN: Step up the political process

From Andrea Ahles's, "Hawaiian Style," Fall '97 From Andrea Ahles's, "Hawaiian Style," Fall '97 Prospective students hear all about the popular English Department, the top-notch Biology Department and, of course, the prestigious Wharton School. This is simply because the department is an embarrassment to the school. There have been no notable accomplishments or accolades for this department. And although there are political experts in international and comparative politics at Penn, the department itself has several weak links, most notably in the American politics concentration. And while its a step forward that the University has recognized the need to improve Political Science, there has been little progress. The Agenda for Excellence, which identified the department for improvement in one of its six academic goals, was released in November 1995. The strategic plan called for hiring an additional three or four full-time senior faculty members in order to make the department more visible and competitive with peer institution. But Ian Lustick, the department's chairperson, said in a recent DP article that he doesn't expect to hire the first of the senior professors until next July -- almost three years after the Agenda was announced, and 10 years after the department began its rebuilding plan in 1988. Yes, it does take time to find the right professors to come to Penn, and the search committee established last spring led by Interim SAS Dean Walter Wales is carefully reviewing applicants. However, if the department has been rebuilding for the past 10 years, there should have been a more concerted effort to hire and retain professors. And during this period, the department has also lost several quality scholars. For example, Steven Fish -- a top Russian politics expert -- was lured away to the University of California at Berkeley three years ago. If the University expects to increase the visibility of its Political Science Department, administrators have to be willing to spend a lot of money -- the kind of dollar signs that will lure budding and established scholars to Penn. Hopefully, now that University President Judith Rodin has highlighted the problems in the department and earmarked money for the initiatives, plans to improve it will move faster. There also has to be a financial commitment to expand the number of professors on staff if Penn wants to have a top-notch department. Most of the nation's renowned political science departments have 42 full-time faculty members. Penn only has about 20. The appointment of Marie Gottschalk from Yale University to teach a course entitled "The American Presidency" is a move in the right direction. But she only has a junior faculty position. Last spring, Philadelphia was in the spotlight as President Clinton and other former chief executives joined together to announce a community service agenda. This conference was held here because this is the birthplace of America, and Penn is in the middle of it, as many politicians and University administrators like to say. There is no reason why this school should not have a strong American politics concentration. Why is it that Marisa Golden -- the department's only full-time American politics professor -- is teaching one class and spending the semester in Washington D.C.? And this comes when the department just approved an American Public Policy minor last spring that requires students to take more courses in American politics. There are simply not enough professors at Penn to teach the courses students want and need to take for requirements. For that matter, there aren't enough graduate student teaching assistants either. Students signed up for Contemporary Chinese Politics expected a class with two one-hour lecture periods and one one-hour recitation. But upon arriving on the first day of class Political Science Professor Avery Goldstein explained to the class the department was unable to secure a teaching assistant as originally anticipated. Now the class meets for 90 minutes twice a week with Goldstein leading discussion as well as lecturing on Communist China. While this is beneficial for students to have more of an interaction with the professor, it does add extra responsibilities to someone who is already teaching a graduate course as well as advising thesis candidates. This cannot go on for much longer. There are dreams of grandeur for this department which can be attained if the University moves quickly. The problem has been identified and solutions have been formulated. While the department does not need to be restructured -- the four concentrations adequately cover the different areas of political study and thought -- each section needs to be beefed up. Now the money needs to be put aside, professors need to be hired and new courses should be offered. Everything needs to be stepped up if the University hopes to one day have the kind of Political Science Department it should already have.