This observation just in from Sabrina Jamil:
Not sure how many are aware, but a revised version of the proposal has passed.
Although the Ph.D. program was not eliminated, admissions to the program are frozen until at least 2012. There is a 60 day window for additional changes to be made. More from the Gainesville Sun here:
This is disappointing, though not a total loss. From the outside, I’m not sure how this compromising compromise was achieved, but I suppose it is better than a total elimination of the program.
I just saw this and I actually think it’s a step backwards. The original proposal was going to keep the MA program in place and allow no disturbance in admissions. The new proposal does not allow for any new admissions after this coming fall for some undetermined period of time. I have not heard anything from the department yet, so the Sun article may be inaccurate. But, if it is not, it looks to me like the administration found a way to make things sound better while making them worse.
When I originally heard about the suggestion to move from an elimination to a suspension, I thought that it would be a step forward, but this is not. It is only a step or two away from eliminating the department. As people graduate, where are they going to get TAs from? This is clearly a way to ease the department into oblivion, in my opinion. I’ve been told I have a rather cynical view of the situation and maybe so. But I’ve been given no reason not to be cynical about the university’s attitude toward the department.
Kevin, I would agree that shutting down admissions for the graduate program is simply a sneaky way of shutting down the department. I don’t know that it is any worse than directly shutting down the Ph.D. program from practical standpoint, but it certainly isn’t any better.
Sabrina- The original plan to eliminate the PhD program would have left in place an M.A.-only program and M.A. student admissions would have continued. There are some schools that do very well with M.A.-only programs (e.g. Tufts) so even if this were a permanent situation there is the possibility (however unlikely) that the department could have continued to thrive.
The current plan freezes all graduate student admissions. Thus, as people graduate there will be fewer and fewer grad students in the department. Depending on the rate of graduations and departures, it may be that within 3 or 4 years, there will not be enough T.A.s to continue to offer many of the undergraduate classes that the department currently offers. So, senior faculty will be forced to teach more classes and more introductory classes just so that the major continues. I do not think many faculty have the desire to teach three or four introductory classes and so they would likely depart in such circumstances.
So, I think the more current proposal is worse because at least the original proposal would have not affected undergraduate teaching in any direct way. But, the current proposal may lead to the elimination not only of the PhD, but the undergraduate major as well. I may be wrong about all this and there may be more to the proposal than I can see, but I think this is a much more perilous path to tread.
I see your point. I think reliance on non-secured instructors (graduate students, annual contract faculty, and adjunct faculty) is generally a problem within academia for these reasons. I agree with you that it is unlikely that the department will survive under the current proposal, which is just a back-handed way of shutting down the department.
However, I think this same problem would have eventually occurred were the program an M.A. only program. Since UF’s national reputation is nothing near that of an institution like Tufts — no offense to UF intended, I think it’s a great institution but its name is not perceived by the public in the same way — building a Master’s program comparable to that of Tufts would require financial investment, not budgetary denial. To build such a program, the institution must be prepared to spend money on such a program; to attract quality students and faculty, to offer them funding for various things, etc. Shutting down the Ph.D. program to save money sends the message that the university intends to do exactly the opposite. What Master’s student would seriously consider a program where faculty and other grad students are running away as quickly as possible?
Neither of these budgetary scenarios really makes too much sense to me, though, from a financial perspective. I don’t know what average faculty salaries are UF for the various ranks, but I know that for junior, untenured faculty they must be at least comparable to mine, as a first year annual contract faculty member at a community college. If the goal is to drive higher-paid faculty out, thus saving money on their salaries, okay, that makes sense. But you are also driving away all of your indentured servants, a.k.a. grad students. Grad students in philosophy are probably among the most poorly compensated higher ed instructors in the nation — sometimes, I think, worse than adjunct faculty in many places. Without senior faculty and graduate students, you’ll need to bring adjunct faculty and annual contract faculty to take their place. At the end of the day, the average amount of money spent of faculty salaries probably averages out to be about the same. Additionally, administrative costs — like office space, staff, papers, pencils, copiers, etc. — are not likely to change too much given the current proposal.
I know I’m just repeating what others have said over and over. This move — in either form — doesn’t actually save the institution any substantial amount money.
Sabrina- Now that I look at the actual proposal it is unclear whether what I thought was happening based on the Sun article will in fact be happening. The proposal specifically mentions only a suspension of the doctoral and not masters program. If a masters program is kept in place then it might not be a step backwards, although I do agree with you that it is really just a step to the side.
I agree with you that UF is not at the level of Tufts in general. I was only trying to consider a best case scenario. After all, some less-renowned schools have succeeded with M.A.-only programs. However, I do still think that the department will be depleted in short shrift if this suspension is still in place.
As you say, neither of these moves save the university any substantial amount of money. In fact, to my understanding, it does not save the university ANY money (as in zero dollars). That’s really what fuels my deep cynicism on the issue. If there is no practical immediate gain to be made, they must have something else in store down the road, at least as I see it.