On The Edge News

By Alyssa Allemand  

Faculty voted on program prioritization recommendations at the Faculty Association meeting on Nov. 11. Vice President for Academic Affairs and Academic Dean Dean Pribbenow will bring the faculty vote to interim President Sister Mary Ellen Gevelinger, O.P., who may veto the decisions, and she will bring her proposal to the board of trustees meeting on Nov. 14. The board has the final say.  

Faculty vote results 

The first motion proposed at the meeting was to eliminate the Economics major with a plan to form a Political Economy concentration through Political Science. Faculty voted to eliminate the major with 67 in favor of the motion and 12 opposed.

The second motion was to eliminate the Ethnic Studies major. The program accepted this recommendation with a plan to utilize the individualized major process offered at the college. Faculty voted to eliminate the major with 65 in favor of the motion and 14 opposed.  

The third motion was the elimination of the History major. Faculty voted to keep the major with 25 in favor of the elimination and 53 opposed. The motion to eliminate the History: Broad Field Social Studies major was approved with a show-of-hands-vote of 65 in favor of its elimination and 3 opposed. 

The fourth motion was the elimination of the Religious Studies major. Professor and Chair of Religious Studies John Leonard said that the Religious Studies major is the only way the college’s Catholic identity is made “visible” in the catalog and requested to keep the major listed until an alternative plan can be made. Faculty voted to keep the major with 55 opposed to its elimination and 19 in favor.  

The fifth motion was to eliminate the Spanish major. The program did not reply to the recommendation, thus accepting the recommendation. However, faculty voted to keep the major with 41 opposed to the motion and 31 in favor.

The sixth and final motion of the meeting was to eliminate the Theatre Teaching major. Chair of the Theatre Arts Department Jeanne Leep urged faculty to “let it go” as the department is working on a way to restructure a general Theatre major that can still serve students interested in education. Faculty voted unanimously to eliminate the Theatre Teaching major.