terrapinsanity.com

More rightsizing woes went on display in the media this morning. The Sun carried news of the likely reduction in classes in Yiddish on the College Park campus, which reflects some of the belt tightening in ARHU (College of Arts and Humanities.) And once again, leadership evidences ham-handed media relations by neither anticipating the potential for public reaction nor getting out in front of it.

The news is a study in contrasts. First, taking this report at face value, how different this plays out compared with the media reaction of Cordell Black’s forced move back to his home department. Both areas – black studies and Jewish studies – live with cultural hot buttons exposed for the pushing. Yet one change triggered protest and reporting about injustice, the other triggered explanation of the importance of the area and likely consequences of the loss – even though both changes, to a first order approximation, save campus about the same about of cash. Cordell’s change has relatively immediate budget impact – there is only prospective savings to allowing the instructor in Yiddish to go at end of the 2011 academic year. But only the Yiddish change will actually affect course offerings.

As is always the case, there is more to the story, which leaves a more mixed picture. The savings from reduction in Yiddish offerings seem to come chiefly from elimination of an instructor position. The Jewish Studies operation incurs some small administrative overhead but much of that is covered by outside donations, and most of its faculty have their lines in other home departments (such as History.) They are unaffected. The cut you see reflects the natural place to which an administrator must turn in tight times: course offerings enabled by only one instructor, who is non-tenure track, and taken by (according to Testudo today) perhaps six students.

The reporting you have not seen yet: Far more sweeping reorganization of the languages departments within ARHU is under way, which will likely trigger release of more office staff as savings is sought from doubling up on responsibilities. The intellectual strength of programs for which we have far more majors is at stake – but while these people have a story to tell too, apparently they don’t live close enough to hot buttons to get their stories in the Post or Sun yet. (And there are far more reorgs yet to roll out too.)

Other reporting you have not yet seen: Unlike in the diversity matter where activists openly questioned leadership’s motives, so far nobody has questioned hard why the Iranian born Provost would quietly gut a core cultural component from the Jewish Studies operation. Yes – a study in contrasts.