Submitted by: Tamar Massen ’12, Carly Feiner ’12, Amy Lafleur ’12, Nicole Levy ’12, Yael Massen ’13, Morgan Rinck ’11, Jessica Tornatore ’12.
Two weeks after President Christopher Dahl delivered the shocking decision to “deactivate” the programs in communicative disorders and sciences, studio art and computer science, we remain in a state of disbelief.
Killing any academic program is a tremendous loss to the college, but we can only accurately advocate on behalf of the CDSc department.
We are furious with our administration and we demand answers. The blame originates with Albany’s inaction and Gov. David Paterson’s diversion of money for funding higher education; it must be made clear, though, that the decision to cut the CDSc department was made solely at Geneseo.
Dahl, Provost Carol Long and the administration’s disregard for student and faculty input makes us question the integrity of our college. Program cuts were developed by the Strategic Planning Group and the Budget Advisory Committee over the past 12 months. Because four of the employed criteria – centrality to mission, inter-relatedness with other programs, program sustainability and quality – are wholly subjective, we ask that transparency be provided in this devastating decision.
According to the SPG’s outdated website, its advisory group includes Long and several administrators, two English and education professors and one from math, sociology and biology. How could this group represent all departments of the college? Most astoundingly, why is there no public record of the minutes from this group?
CDSc is central to the college’s mission. Our educators weave together a study of culture, technology, science, art and the humanities with basic human communication processes. Data from the past year reveals over 5,000 intervention sessions in the form of speech-language-hearing assessment and therapy serving 1,914 clients from the community. What about program sustainability? Sixty years ago, the CDSc department aided in the foundation of the college, a strong display of longevity.
Upon receiving a perfect accreditation site visit in May 2009 by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Dahl referred to our department as “a gem of the college.” We’ve had a 99.9 percent pass rate on the national Praxis exam over the past 20 years; the national rate is 75 percent. We have the highest rate of students admitted to graduate school and a 100 percent employment rate. How does this not fulfill the criterion of “quality?”
CDSc faculty are actively involved in service committees. Last year, department chair Linda House was nominated by Dahl and named to the statewide “Chancellor’s Group of 200.” Bob Owens, a distinguished teaching professor and member of the College Senate, helped found The Voices Project. Dale Metz has received national acclaim for his work in research, including The 2010 Honors of Association.
Our professors recognize that program cuts are not the answer to the college’s problems. Last summer, House and Owens – unaware of the future of CDSc – e-mailed Long with alternatives to program cuts and suggested placing the burden equally on all departments. Why were these valued opinions disregarded?
During Parents Weekend, Dahl pleaded for financial support and cited the renovation of Doty Hall to house our department. Parents sacrificed hundreds of dollars. How, in only three weeks, did the college completely shift from promoting this long-awaited project and showing blueprints to professors to cutting it entirely? CDSc never asked to move to Doty, yet Associate Dean of the college Kerry McKeever cited this expensive project as a reason for deactivation.
The administration continues to stress that cutting these academic programs will strengthen the college. This decision has pitted departments, professors and students against one another; how can it direct Geneseo towards a better future? Is this poorly delivered decision the precedent our college will choose to use in future times of hardship? We need answers now.