Japanese program stops accepting students

Cheryl Crowley is searching for a new alma mater. The second-year Oriental Studies graduate student in the Japanese Studies program has been urged to make alternate plans for continuing her education. The University will no longer accept students into the graduate program of Japanese Studies due to a lack of faculty specializing in the area. And students like Crowley who are currently enrolled in the program will be forced to either finish their studies this year or get their degree at another school if two vacant teaching positions in the department are not filled immediately. "It's a vicious cycle," said William Lafleur, professor of Japanese and director of the graduate program. "If we don't have a grad program, it will be difficult to [attract] students. If we don't have students, it will be difficult to [attract] faculty." Lafleur said that in a meeting last Thursday with Donald Fitts, the School of Arts and Sciences's associate dean for graduate studies, he told Fitts that without more faculty, the program could not continue. "I gave them a choice," Lafleur said yesterday. "We could carry on an undergraduate program but we could not have a . . . graduate program [without support from SAS]." Fitts decided to suspend the graduate program, he added. But Fitts said yesterday that the decision was made by Lafleur and that that under the circumstances, it was a wise one. "Arts and Sciences simply cannot afford to add faculty," he said. But SAS Dean Rosemary Stevens, who oversees Fitts, said she was not willing to give up on the program yet. Stevens said last night that while the University has stopped admissions, she hopes to hire faculty to fill the current void. "There is a moratorium at present on new graduate students coming in to do Japanese Studies," Stevens said. "My hope is we'll fill the positions . . . Sometimes it just takes a while." The program currently has two faculty members, only one of whom is tenured. When Lafleur was brought to the University two years ago, one of his responsibilities, he said, was to "rebuild the program" which at one point had employed four tenured professors. Students in the program said that just last year they were assured that the program was in a stage of development, and that this recent change of direction was surprising. "I came here with the understanding that the department was going to be growing," said Japanese Studies graduate student Rosemary Morrison. "It doesn't seem to make any sense." "I am completely devastated," Crowley said. "It's just mad not to have a viable Japanese Studies program." Lafleur added that the open faculty positions at the University are unattractive to prospective applicants because they are junior positions that are poorly defined and "it's a seller's market for people with real expertise in Japan." And with the future of his program up in the air, Lafleur is unsure of the path he will take. "[Without the graduate program] one of the reasons I came here will be gone," he said. "I don't know what the future holds."

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