Faculty Not Surprised by Plan : Professors: Some worry what closure of comparative culture program means for ethnic studies in general.

Faculty members expressed little surprise Friday in reaction to UC Irvine Chancellor Laurel L. Wilkening’s outline for the future of the university, with many saying she has taken a conservative first step on the road to change.

“I don’t think this particular announcement will make major changes in student life,” said Prof. Juan Bruce-Novoa, head of the Spanish and Portuguese department. “The election of the governor will probably have more effect on student life than what has happened here.”

While some faculty members said they believe a major restructuring of university operations is needed, Wilkening rejected calls for further cuts in the number of vice chancellors.

“It was a thoughtful, well-balanced scientific statement, and yet I think it was quite cautious,” said Alan Hoffer, whose education department was spared from earlier recommendations for elimination by a faculty task force.

Some of the most contentious faculty issues concern the tiny ethnic studies programs that are struggling for recognition among UCI’s major academic departments. The four programs were granted autonomy in selecting faculty members, but they will also be required to operate within established academic departments.

Gilbert Gonzalez, a professor of comparative culture whose program has been earmarked for elimination, said the ethnic studies programs should be grouped together as an independent academic department.

“What she’s really saying is that there’s no academic discipline of ethnic studies,” Gonzales said. “It seems to have been placed on the margins by some of the bigger players on campus.”

R. Bin Wong, director of Asian American studies, shares Gonzalez’ concerns, but also believes the new ability of his program to hire faculty without the permission of a larger academic department is important.

“It represents, in some sense, a recognition that these programs are not simply an unwanted stepchild,” Wong said.

Wilkening’s report comes on the heels of previous recommendations made by two faculty committees earlier this year. Some of the more controversial recommendations made by an academic task force were reversed by a second faculty committee, the Academic Planning Council. Wilkening emphasized on Friday that the hard sciences will play a dominant role in bringing badly needed research funds to the university.

But English professor John Carlos Rowe, director of African American studies, worries that the inability of humanities courses to attract large research grants has caused them to be neglected. Rowe recently received a $106,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for a multicultural education project.

“She has high expectations for the way in which the hard sciences are going to work with industry,” Rowe said. “The issue for humanists is that we don’t have something we can sell. What we’re really good at is improving the product of well-rounded citizens.”

While generally praising Wilkening’s proposals, Rowe is critical of the chancellor’s support for additional hiring of part-time faculty members to help lighten faculty workloads. Rowe said the move is similar to trends in private industry, where part-time workers are replacing full-time workers who receive full benefits.

“I’m afraid there is some justice in that analogy,” Rowe said. “If I don’t see a long-term career at the University of California, I’m going to (just) teach my classes and go home, which is what has happened at many institutions across the country.”

Most faculty members contacted believe real structural change at UCI will be inevitable in order to cope with the bleak outlook for state education funding. And they see Wilkening’s proposals as a only a tentative beginning.

“The statement she released is somewhat of an interim statement,” Hoffer said. “There’s a lot coming, because we have a lot of questions as to whether there should be a complete restructuring of departments.”