At a time when University students, faculty and staff are demanding more diversity on campus, one of the most racially diverse departments is facing serious obstacles.
With faculty members from 10 different countries, the Department of Romance Languages is already a department that exhibits characteristics that others are attempting to develop. But because of chronic under-funding and outstanding debt, the department is unable to renew the contracts of five “highly-qualified instructors” this fall.
It is a downward spiral in which the department has been stuck for several years, resulting in the continual loss of faculty, department head Barbara Altmann said. Cuts have been made in all three language programs – French, Italian and Spanish – although Spanish has faced the most severe loss because it is the biggest program.
Eighty percent of the department’s budget is allocated to faculty salaries, so the most efficient, if not the most satisfactory, solution is to cut faculty, Altmann said.
The department has been overspending its budget for several years, and is finally in a position to pay it back to the College of Arts and Sciences. Thus, in addition to supporting the entire department on a limited budget, part of that budget is going toward debt repayment.
“We happen to be a very expensive department to run because our first priority is small classes,” Altmann said. “It’s one of the realities of teaching foreign language and culture.”
Kelley Leon Howarth, instructor of Romance Languages, said the budget is worse now than it has ever been. Currently in her fifth year of instruction at the University, Howarth is frustrated with the department’s inability to retain faculty because it’s just not affordable.
“It’s not a new issue,” she said. “Anyone teaching in humanities feels the budget crisis very pointedly.”
Howarth said the University needs to find a way to allocate more money to the department because it exemplifies the environment the University has been pushing for in recent years with efforts such as the Diversity Plan.
“This is a great opportunity for the University to back up their commitment to diversity with funding and they’re not choosing to do that,” Howarth said.
Harinder Hennesy, senior instructor of Italian, is originally from Turkey. She said it is the responsibility of all citizens to support programs such as the romance languages because the outcome is worth it.
“It’s just wonderful because our goal is to basically extend the horizons of our students by exposing them to different cultures and languages, and understand that there is not just one way of looking at things,” Hennesy said.
The department is resorting to different approaches to mitigate the low budget’s impact. They include more summer courses and revised survey course formats. Altmann assured that every resource students need is still available. She said the department is maximizing its remaining personnel and has successfully maintained the program’s integrity. Also, the number of students in the program has not been reduced.
“Nothing has been done suddenly or abruptly,” Altmann said. “It’s all been really measured out. It could have really fractured the department but it made us come together and work as a group.”
That careful consideration may partially account for the unity within the Department of Romance Languages, illustrated in a letter sent to the Emerald following an April 25 story highlighting Spanish Instructor Jesús Sepúlveda. Ten instructors, including Sepúlveda, signed a letter explaining their regret over the instructor losses, and the fact that chronic under-funding – of the department and University – bears the burden of blame.
“Everyone in our department really wholeheartedly supports what Barbara Altmann is doing in the current situation,” Howarth said. “There is a great sense of unity in our department and amongst the faculty.”
Altmann is optimistic that within three or four years the department will have its debt repaid and begin rehiring, but there is no guarantee that the departing instructors will be able to return.
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