Am Civ Dept. to halt grad admissions

The University will close graduate student admissions to the American Civilization Department next year in a drastic move that some administrators said was designed to cut overcrowding in the department. According to University officials, the one-year moratorium on admissions resulted from a combination of too many students and too few faculty. They insisted vehemently that the department is not being phased out. But others downplayed the overcrowding issue, saying the decision to halt admissions comes in conjunction with the formation of a faculty committee to reexamine the department. The primary intention of the moratorium, said SAS Dean Rosemary Stevens, is to "reevaluate American studies at the University of Pennsylvania." And Donald Fitts, associate dean for graduate studies in the School of Arts and Sciences, said that after the careful evaluation, the department could continue and even be expanded. "At other universities, American studies is a broader subject than at Penn," Fitts said yesterday. "At Penn, [it is a] fairly narrowly focused program." But some of the four faculty and 69 graduate students in the department said they are upset by the decision and feel it could hurt the department in the long run. "I think it's a mistake for us not to be [accepting new students], but that's the dean's decision," said Am Civ Chairperson Murray Murphey, whose department was informed of the decision in August. "The dean wants to slow us up a year." Murphey said the moratorium decision was made by former Associate Dean for Humanities Stephen Nichols, and reaffirmed by his successor Beeman and new SAS Dean Stevens this year. Students did not seem to care who made the decision, but rather that the decision was made at all. "We don't understand why the University doesn't want to support [the department]," said Am Civ graduate student Susan Garfinkel. "I sincerely hope this isn't the beginning of the end." And one student said that administrators fail to realize the importance of the Am Civ program. "It is my perception that at the administrative level there is a real lack of understanding of the nature of the program in American Civilization at Penn," said Am Civ graduate student Gretchen Hackett. Since one of the reasons for halting admissions is the high faculty-to-student ratio, students said that an alternative way to change the situation is to hire more faculty. Garfinkel said that when she entered the department in 1986, there were five more faculty members than there are today. And Hackett said that there are positions that have been "empty for several years" and that resources are bypassing Am Civ and being poured into other departments in the school. But Beeman said that it is "not that simple" to hire new faculty because of the time and money involved in such a "major, major decision." The Am Civ Department has experienced a series of setbacks in recent years, including the defection of former Am Civ Professor Drew Faust to the History Department and the departure of former Am Civ Professor Janice Radway from the University.

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