Word about the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures firings has spread throughout the University, and students and the “Foreign Language 14” have raised questions about the timing of the cuts.
The Foreign Language 14 is the self-dubbed name of the instructors who will no longer have jobs as of Jan. 21, 2011, and the instructors are demanding answers now more than ever.
When three of the instructors sat down Tuesday with Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Executive Vice Chancellor Jane Cassidy and The Daily Reveille, their biggest concern was how students will complete their foreign language requirements.
Gaines Foster, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said his college will allow students to complete their sequences in another language instead of having to start new sequences.
But each college has different foreign language requirements, and not all require language credits. Vice Provost for Academics and Planning Stacia Haynie said it is up to each college’s dean to determine if their students will have to start new sequences.
But the Foreign Language 14 are confused as to why they were the only faculty, out of 240 who received the notices of nonrenewal, who will be terminated as of January. In fairness to the faculty to find another job and the students to complete their year of language, the 14 instructors are requesting their time be extended to May 2011.
“Given our combined 160 years of service to Louisiana State University, we believe that the request to extend our contracts 16 weeks is fair and reasonable,” the 14 instructors said in a letter to Foster. “To retain [14] modestly-paid instructors for one more semester (i.e. four pay periods) will cost the University less than $300,000, or less than [1] percent of the overall budget shortfall of $43,000,000.”
Foster’s e-mail response was apologetic, but he said he must carry out the original decision of the chancellor in light of the budget crisis.
The Foreign Language 14 have not given up the fight. After requesting a sit-down with Chancellor Michael Martin, the 14 were referred to Cassidy, who could not answer several of the questions they posed.
“I teach a Latin 1001 class,” said Johanna Sandrock, Latin, Greek, German and classical studies instructor. “Most of them are freshmen, which means they don’t have priority scheduling. They probably won’t be able to take the next sequence.”
Students are just as disappointed with the language cuts as the professors. English and international studies junior Robert Hudson is president of the Swahili Club, and he was appalled the University will be eliminating Swahili, Portuguese, Japanese and Russian.
“If you look at languages offered at the University, we will no longer be offering an African language,” Hudson said. “Thirty-two percent of Louisiana is African-American. If LSU is supposed to be the flagship university, how can we completely ignore our culture and heritage?”
Hudson has already taken all the Swahili courses the University offers, but he tutors athletes who will not be able to complete their foreign language sequences. He said students majoring in African studies will be missing a crucial part of their education.
“It’s affecting the direction [students] want to go in their major,” Hudson said. “All the concentrations [in African studies] after this will be a joke.”
____
Contact Catherine Threlkeld at [email protected]