Senior Colleen Esper has all the credits she needs to graduate at the end of this semester with a major in sociology and a minor in U.S. Latina/o studies.
But she may not receive her minor if the university doesn’t pass the proposal to officially add it in the next few weeks.
“I’ve put in the work,” Esper said. “It’s not like I’m asking for a freebie. I earned my minor.”
Esper is one of three seniors who have completed all the courses necessary to graduate with the proposed minor, which has been discussed since fall 2005, said Robb Hernandez, who was involved in writing the minor’s initial proposal.
But Elizabeth Loizeaux, the arts and humanities associate dean who is reviewing the proposal, said she doesn’t expect the minor will go into effect until next fall.
“This is a very, very careful process,” she said. “The time frame really just depends on how busy the faculty members are that are working on it.”
The university administration announced last semester that, due to budget constraints, it would not approve any new majors unless the departments could come up with the resources to run them on their own.
But minors require fewer financial resources to manage and less time to pass a major.
“For a minor, it takes a relatively short amount of time to go through,” said James Harris, arts and humanities dean. “Normally we respond to large student interest, and I think in this case there is a large interest.”
So much interest, in fact, that students and faculty say they’re ready to protest if the minor isn’t approved.
“If it doesn’t happen this semester, there will be a riot,” said Evelyn Lopez, a senior criminal justice major who hopes to graduate this summer with a U.S. Latina/o minor. “We have full support from the Latino professors. They’re going to be at the frontlines with us.”
Espers estimates 250 students, professors and alumni will protest, and Ruth Zambrana, the interim director of the U.S. Latina/o Studies Initiative, said she would join the organized rally.
“Latino students have to raise their voice and express their support,” Zambrana said.Zambrana said she is concerned that the university is not behind the initiative because the university’s recently released strategic plan working document didn’t mention the minor.
“We don’t have a firm commitment right now to even continue the minor,” Zambrana said.
A lack of funding from the university, a need to hire full-time faculty to teach the courses and the ongoing question of what department will house the minor have proved to be significant obstacles, said Zambrana.
“We need university support,” she said. “Support means dollars, and I think what’s clear to me is that this is not a priority for this university.”
Currently, the university’s limited number of Latino professors are being lent out from their respective departments to teach the classes, said Zambrana, the director of the Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity and a women’s studies professor.
“With the limited number of Latino faculty here, we try our best,” she said. “It would be extremely unfair to ask the Latino faculty to teach this on overload.”
If the proposal is approved by the arts and humanities college, it will go to the Campus Academic Affairs and then to the University Senate, said Phyllis Peres, associate provost for academic planning and programs. The senate could expedite the process if the college decides it wants the minor to go into effect this semester, Peres said.
“We certainly would like to accommodate students who are in the pipeline for the minor,” Peres said.
Loizeaux said if the minor doesn’t pass this semester, students who graduate won’t receive the official minor but can still show employers that they’ve taken credits in U.S. Latino studies by noting the classes on their resumé.
“That’s completely ridiculous,” Lopez said. “What speaks more: highlighting something on my resumé or actually having the minor? That is not an adequate solution.”
miliandbk@gmail.com
