David Masciotra recently wrote an article for Salon that refers to the recent decision of the Valpo administration to begin the process of discontinuing several academic programs at the university, including theology. David is an alumnus of Valpo. You can read his article here:
https://www.salon.com/2024/03/16/ignorance-and-democracy-capitalisms-long-against-higher-education/
Students at Valpo have started a petition that calls upon Valpo's administrators to stop their plan to discontinue the theology programs at the university. If you would like to sign the petition, go here.
This morning I learned that several programs at my university are now slated for discontinuance. Included in the proposal are all theology programs. Also included are foreign languages, music, and other programs in the humanities and the sciences. To see the list of programs slated for discontinuance, go here.
Many faculty who teach in these programs will likely have their positions cut.
Here is the letter that I received this morning from the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences:
Dear Members of the Department of Philosophy and Theology,
I write to inform you that the Theology major and minor, the Theology and Ministry major, and the Philosophy major and minor will be entered into the Academic Discontinuance Process today. I met with your department chair earlier this morning to inform the department via the chair, but I also wanted to directly inform all full-time department members via email before a campus-wide email is sent out by the Provost’s Office.
I have attached a copy of the discontinuance memorandum from the Provost’s Office and a copy of the program discontinuance policy. Entry into discontinuance does not automatically mean that a program will be discontinued. Your department will have up to 60 calendar days to respond to the proposed discontinuance.
As your department works on its response documents, [name withheld] agreed to provide data and advice. You are also always welcome to schedule an appointment to meet with me or any representative of the Dean’s Office. If you have questions about data and the best ways to present information, both offices have individuals experienced reading, analyzing, interpreting, and presenting both quantitative and qualitative information. We are more than willing to help. Additionally, the Provost and the chair of the Faculty Senate, [name withheld], agreed to host open office hours this afternoon starting at 1 PM.
Finally, I know this is a difficult day. The staff at the Chapel and the Employee Assistance Program are both available. You are, again, always welcome to come talk to me too.
Respectfully,
[Name withheld]
My brief commentary:
Given that Valpo's administration hired the same consulting firm that recommended major cuts to programs in the humanities at West Virginia University (and at other schools), today's overall decision is not surprising, but it is sobering. (One of my younger colleagues, who teaches NT, learned at 9am today that she was promoted to associate professor with tenure, only to learn at 11:30am that her tenure no longer will mean anything. She has a young family and is uncertain about her future employment here.)
Today's decision at Valpo was and is entirely market-driven. No attention seems to have been given to how these proposed program cuts will adversely affect the stated mission of the university.
Some elements in today's announcement did catch me and others by surprise. The proposal includes the elimination of tenure (even for those of us who have been tenured for decades), the establishment of one-year rolling contracts for all affected faculty (which means that any one of us could be told mid-year that our contract won't be renewed for next year), and the requirement (at least for me) to teach an additional course per semester at no additional pay. (I have been teaching a 3-3 load, and occasionally a 3-2 load, since I joined the faculty in 2004. The proposal requires a 4-4 teaching load for all affected faculty--at least those of us who don't lose our jobs [or lose them right away].)
It is not at all certain that the current theology requirement (two required 3-hr courses in the gen ed curriculum) will continue. The basic 200-level "Christian Tradition" course will likely continue, at least for a while, but the upper-division theology courses could easily go away. If that would happen, the dept would eventually disappear, since no prospective faculty member will want to come to an institution where they can't teach in their area of expertise and research. As theology faculty retire (or if their contracts are not renewed), those spots won't be filled. Who would want to join a dept if the university can only offer new faculty a one-year rolling contract, no tenure, no program per se, no support for research, just "service teaching" in the gen ed curriculum at a 4-4 level?
I should add that my department is among the most productive departments in the university with respect to research and publications. Each year, it seems, at least one of us publishes a book or comes out with a major article. These publications help to draw attention to Valpo.
Today's administrative decision, if implemented, will completely dismantle the stated mission of the university, it seems to me. Valpo will no longer be "grounded in the Lutheran tradition of scholarship, freedom, and faith," nor will it really be preparing students "to serve in both church and society." With the elimination of foreign languages, music, the theology programs, and other programs in the humanities, Valpo will no longer be a liberal arts university.
My colleagues and I will put up the best argument we can for keeping the theology major and the current two-course theo requirement, and we will join other departments in defending their important role in our overall university's mission, but we also need alumni and others to let their voices be heard in the coming days and weeks.
One of my friends who taught theology at Valpo for around four decades wrote the following to me earlier today, after learning about this announcement:
"Our world and country are changing in fundamental ways. Training has taken the place of education, and education is little valued. A millennium of thought about what it means to be a university and to educate has come to an end. It's time to grieve, but also to hope and to ponder reinvention."
Please keep us in your prayers.
