Dear Colleague,

As you know from my previous correspondence, the College of Arts and Sciences is engaged in a long-term strategic planning process that has helped us critically examine programs and evaluate how to best support academic areas across the College --
the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and life sciences -- that demonstrate academic and scholarly excellence. At the heart of this process is the College’s mission to uphold our position of academic excellence and best provide for the success of our students during a time of constrained resources, while also aligning with the University’s strategic goals. To that end, this is one of the first steps coming out of a review process that is ongoing across all areas of the University.

 

In recent months, the College has engaged in strategic discussions with our faculty leadership, members of University administration, the Provost, the Graduate School,
and the University Senate and I am grateful for their feedback and suggestions. After close consideration of all faculty leadership proposals, we developed a strategic pathway that will build upon the distinctive strengths and qualities of the College and foster
a stronger foundation for our future:

 

• The College will create a new Department of Comparative World Literature by combining the departments of European Languages, Literatures & Cultures;
  Cultural Studies & Comparative Literature; and Hispanic Languages & Literature. 
  
  This newly combined department will draw upon faculty strengths in literature, culture, and language across the College and reinforce Stony Brook's position as
  a global institution.
  
  Undergraduate majors and minors in Spanish, French, Italian, and German;
  a minor in Russian; and master's degree programs in language teaching will all
  be contained within the new Department of Comparative World Literature;
  in addition, the graduate degree program in Hispanic Languages & Literature
  will continue to be offered.
  
  

• The College will create an innovative interdepartmental co-teaching process for doctoral programs in the humanities and social sciences, making shared use of courses in methods and theory across these disciplines.
  
  This new model makes it possible for graduate students who are on separate tracks to collaborate with their peers in a variety of disciplines across the humanities and social sciences.
  
  

• The College will create cross-departmental doctoral training in teaching pedagogy to support undergraduate courses and efficiently deploy graduate and faculty instructors in areas of critical need.
   

• The College will suspend admissions into the undergraduate degree programs in Theatre Arts, Comparative Literature, and Cinema & Cultural Studies.

 

• The College will suspend admissions into the graduate degree programs in Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature.

 

While suspending admissions into programs is an extremely difficult decision,
it is important to recognize that if constrained resources were spread over a growing
number of programs, all of our programs would be weakened. That said, we are
building resources in key departments that have demonstrated academic and
scholarly excellence.

 

As we make changes to the curriculum, we are committed to providing support for our students and faculty while preserving the quality of the liberal arts experience in the College. No course changes are planned for the 2017-18 academic year. For the
fewer than 100 students who are currently enrolled in the degree programs into which new admissions are being suspended, every one of these students will have the opportunity to complete their programs, and we will honor existing commitments to graduate students for teaching assistantships.

 

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to the College of Arts and Sciences and
Stony Brook University.