In a recent news article titled “Committee Helped Forman Evaluate Departments,” Michael Giles, professor of political science and chairman to the committee that advises Dean Forman, justified keeping the details of the recent department cuts under a tight lid. He said that open discussion would have raised alarm amongst faculty and students.
“I’d rather take the heat for a lack of transparency than see the antagonism of ‘why this department and not that one’ that comes from open discussion,” he said.
We at The Emory Wheel respectfully disagree with Giles’ decision and feel that the committee should have approached those departments under consideration, as well as Emory’s student body to an appropriate degree.
To make a decision about the future of a department – a decision that will have residual effects around campus – without at least consulting the head of that department is truly irresponsible. We believe that the departments under consideration for future termination should have been given the opportunity to plead their case before Forman’s committee, regardless of whether or not the department’s argument would have been sufficient to prevent its termination. Although departments are required to complete self-evaluations that allow them to document their achievements and goals, department heads have reported that they did not receive feedback on these evaluations. To perform self-evaluations and receive no feedback at all – be it positive or negative – is an exercise in futility and cannot be considered an opportunity for departments to defend themselves.
Involving departments in decisions that concern their future at Emory is a matter of procedural fairness and necessary for maintaining a healthy community, including those who are affected and those who are not. It is apparent that those faculty and students who are not directly affected by these changes also feel a degree of sadness and concern. How can departments feel confident in their future at Emory when Forman’s committee has set a precedent for radio silence and, what many would call, unexpected termination?
Furthermore, we believe that Dean Forman’s committee should have involved students, in some capacity, in the decision-making process behind the department changes. Ultimately, decisions were being made about the future of our education and we students, the direct beneficiaries of these efforts, were not consulted or informed about them until after the fact. We are not asking for a vote at the table, but rather a seat, from which we have, at the very least, the potential to affect the outcome.
The above staff editorial represent the majority opinion of the Wheel’s editorial board.
The Emory Wheel was founded in 1919 and is currently the only independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University. The Wheel publishes weekly on Wednesdays during the academic year, except during University holidays and scheduled publication intermissions.
The Wheel is financially and editorially independent from the University. All of its content is generated by the Wheel’s more than 100 student staff members and contributing writers, and its printing costs are covered by profits from self-generated advertising sales.
