Students should have their say in department
By Editorial Board: Britt Johnsen, Leslie Andres, Kristen J. Kubisiak
The issue: The department of theater, film studies and dance will remain open at least another year, pending a decision in the fall over its fate.
What we think: Students should be allowed to play a more active role in the decision making as this affect them.
Late April, students were stunned to hear rumors that the department of theater, film studies and dance was in danger of being shut down. Both the university and the students enrolled stood gazing into a future that seemed suddenly uncertain.
Today, the status of the department seems less in danger but remains uncertain and will stay that way until the fall, which is supposed to be a reassurance to students who are claimed to be the number one priority in the mess. But what does this really mean?
Majors and minors in this department have expensive decisions to make. Should they continue to take classes for this major or minor? Should they switch my major or minor? Should they transfer to a university where they can feel secure in their major?
Members of the theater, film studies and dance department try to reassure students that their major will remain intact, but follow that with a catch "at least for another year." Those five words render any reassurance meaningless.
In the meantime, students are supposed to take a detour path on their trip through college until the decision makers figure out how to deal with the "issues" in the department that no one will address in detail for the students who deserve to know just what is going on in an area that dramatically affects their future.
College is hard enough as it is, many students are living on their own for the first time, working several jobs and taking out loans, and of course making one of the hardest decisions of their lives: what to major in. Now the university is telling students who have made their hard decisions that they should just wait, and potentially waste money in the process?
Decision makers should realize that this is not just about the future of a department that is at stake, this is about the future of the students as well, and they should let the students play a more active part in it.
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