Diversity departments may face merger

Seeking stability within an uncertain economic future, officials from African American studies, American studies, women's studies and LGBT studies are considering consolidating their four programs into a new academic unit, three faculty members said.

Proponents say the consolidation would maintain the four programs' individual academic integrity, while allowing them to share resources and staff. But student leaders and some faculty caution that such a move would lump disparate disciplines into one excessively broad program.

"What we get is several disciplines put together but no theme to hold them together," said Darrell Gaskin, a health economics professor in the African American Studies department. "The difficulty from what I've seen is that you're taking groups of faculty members whose research doesn't always align very well ... So that's the intellectual hurdle that's problematic."

Seung-kyung Kim, the acting chair of the women's studies department, said a decision about the consolidation will likely be finalized before the end of the semester. Gaskin said such a decision would take at least a year to thoroughly vet.

The consolidation comes as the university crafts a new Diversity Strategic Plan, which makes mention of sharing resources among diversity departments. Though at a town hall meeting on the plan last week, Rob Waters, chair of the plan's steering committee said the plan did not envision a wholesale consolidation.

Arts and Humanities Dean James Harris, who Gaskin said constructed the proposal, did not return immediate calls for comment, but three faculty members confirmed consolidation was being considered.

For the most part, these faculty members said they were unsure about what a newly created diversity program might look like.

It's unclear whether the consolidation will be limited to African American studies, American studies, women's' studies and LGBT studies, or whether the consolidation will include other departments as well. It's also unclear whether the programs will join to form a new school or a new department.

"Who the actual players are, who knows," said Laura Nichols, the assistant director of the women's studies department. "There's all sorts of conversations. Nothing is concrete."

Still, Nichols said that combining resources could allow four relatively small programs to emerge as a larger, more efficient unit, better equipped to attract grant money and weather future cuts.

"If, in fact, the information that we're hearing is correct, we're going to be in this current budget situation for a number of years to come," Nichols said. "So, I always think of these kinds of challenges as an opportunity to look at what creative partnerships we can make. ... If they're going to keep taking certain money from you, how do we still stay as strong as we can be? Partnering may be one way. It may not be."

Gaskin said that sharing resources could cut costs but added that different departments could pool advisors and secretaries without merging into one department.

"African American Studies is 40 years old, and there's a sort of history behind its generation," he said. "In some ways, to try to merge it with another institution really sort of ignores its history in the life of the university, and I'm sure the same can be said in other areas."

Consolidation could also raise a number of logistical concerns, he said. For example, once combined, how would the four departments share state allocations? Would they raise funds together or separately? And if the university granted a newly formed department a new tenured faculty position, which department would take it on?

Graduate Student Government President Anu Kothari proposed that a consolidated diversity department would face even greater challenges.

"You know what consolidation means: cuts," Kothari said. "If three departments are consolidated there will be one chair instead of three. Now this chair will have certain priorities, which means some of the other units will suffer. It isn't the same as having one department all to your own."

Provost Nariman Farvardin and Associate Provost for Equity and Diversity Cordell Black did not return repeated calls for comment.

slivnick at umdbk dot com