October 29, 2010
UAC Response to President Philip’s Request
The Undergraduate Academic Council has given serious consideration to the President’s request for
feedback regarding the proposed deactivation of the French, Russian, Italian, Theatre, and Classics
Programs. Over the span of two weeks, members of the UAC have shared a variety of suggestions,
opinions, and strategies regarding this proposal and the following is a summary of those comments.
Student Notification/Information
A primary concern of the UAC is that all students be notified of the proposed deactivation in
order to plan accordingly. Immediately after the initial announcement of the proposed
deactivations, all intended majors in these programs were identified and individually notified
of this proposed change. However, undeclared/unintended majors or minors are not
identifiable and therefore could not be individually notified. Therefore, the UAC feels that it
is particularly important for all students to be made aware of the proposed changes in order to
afford them the best opportunity to plan their course selections appropriately.
Concerns were expressed about the ability of current students to declare majors or minors in
these areas if they had planned to do so and were already invested in the program. It is noted
that the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education has implemented an appeals process to
address the needs of those students and, to date, a number of students have utilized that
appeal. It is the recommendation of the UAC that the appeals process be more broadly
publicized and information about the process be distributed to all students and advisors.
Additionally, members of the UAC expressed concern about the ability of current students to
obtain the necessary courses and access to faculty that they will need in order to graduate
from these programs, if in fact the programs become deactivated. Specifically, can we
guarantee that students currently in these majors and minors will be able to meet graduation
requirements? There is a clear commitment to assisting these students to plan for the
completion of program requirements. However, the UAC is seeking clarification regarding
proposed timelines for completion of program requirements to ensure that students are
advised correctly and able to fulfill degree requirements.
Project Renaissance
The UAC discussed the discontinuation of the Freshman focused Project Renaissance
Program at some length. In general, the Council feels that the discontinuation of the program
could impact potential recruitment and retention of students who look forward to
participation in this unique program.
October 29, 2010
Impact on Other University Course Offerings
Members of the UAC expressed concern over how deactivation of these programs, and
subsequent diminished offerings at the upper level of certain language courses, would impact
other programs on campus. Specifically identified were the Globalization and English
program’s uses of courses from the targeted departments. Even though it was noted that
these courses are not required for either major, and alternative options are available, the
concern remained that this would narrow options for students and could create greater
demand on other programs across campus. One member suggested that it would be
beneficial to consider retaining the upper division language courses in the targeted programs
if they are currently utilized by other departments. It was thus recommended that the
University engage in widespread discussion regarding the impact of these deactivations on
other programs as well as which, if any, of the courses in the targeted programs might
remain.
The impact on the general education sequence was considered by the UAC. While it is clear
that a number of language courses and sequences remain at UAlbany, the UAC notes that
deactivation of these programs would likely impact the number of lower level language
courses available to students to meet the general education requirement.
Additionally, there was concern about the impact on general education courses given the
closure of Project Renaissance. It was noted that Project Renaissance provided a minimum
of 350 general education seats per semester and students who would have completed general
education requirements through Project Renaissance will no longer be able to so. It is
estimated that this will create a demand of 700 or more seats in existing general education
classes annually.
Other Comments/Notes
It was noted that enrollment has been highlighted as the primary area of consideration in
choosing these programs for potential deactivation. Given the current budget situation, and
the possibility that similar discussions will be undertaken by UAC in the future, some
members have asked for clarification of the other factors considered in choosing these
programs.
