President Caputo has proposed a plan to re-structure the present Liberal Arts divisions of Science and Mathematics, Social Sciences and Humanities and the Arts, to form one School of Arts and Sciences, opening July 1st 1998.
As it stands, Hunter's present divisions each posses one Dean or Acting Dean, who advocates for his or her respective area. Each department is comprised of one Dean, chairpersons and professors. With Caputo's plan, a nationwide search will be conducted to find candidates for the position of Dean of Arts and Sciences. One person will hold the position.
One of the problems seen by the majority of the Senate is that a change in the current structure will limit departmental access to the Dean. Furthermore, a fear exists that the Dean will have too much responsibility to allow personal interaction with the departments. The Dean of Arts and Sciences will oversee 23 departments, 10 interdepartmental programs and about 350 faculty members. Because of possible problems of inaccessibility, there is overwhelming opposition to the plan.
Vice-Chair of the Senate, Michael Nunziata, speculates that the segment who oppose the plan are uncomfortable with change. Now the question one may ask is why make the change especially when it is opposed by the majority of the Senate? The truth is, President Caputo does not need Senate approval to implement this change. He does however need approval from the Board of Trustees. If he did not seek Senate approval, he would incite scores of angry professors and students. Tony Berkel, a student Senator and member of the Undergraduate Academic Requirements Committee says he is "disillusioned with the democratic process. The majority of the Senate does not want this change because now is not a good time. We should be focusing on what's wrong now and work on that."
The concluding statement of the May 19th meeting reads: “We wish to preserve the best aspects of a structure which has fostered excellence in teaching and in research but has rendered curricular innovation difficult in the recent past. The consensus of the Committee supports the concept of a School of Arts and Sciences, but we are not in agreement about the best way to realize such a School. The Committee recognizes that the College will be facing significant challenges of fiscal restraint and CUNY oversight in the years to come.... We therefore encourage full discussion by the entire Hunter Community of the issues raised by this report.”
On September 24th, part of the 351st meeting of the Senate was dedicated to discussion about the restructuring plan. The Lecture Hall was filled with professors, faculty and students alike with many of the attendees wearing formal business attire. After general committee issues were dealt with, the subject of restructuring charged the air. In fact, some of the Senators’ comments were so aggressive that Barbara Hampton had to remind everyone to address the Chair and not each other. The Dean of Mathematics and Science, Erwin Fleissner, raised raucous applause when he spoke at the Senate meeting. On the matter of a new Dean of Arts and Sciences, Dean Fleissner said, "One Dean will devote a fraction of his time to what I do full time. I take that to mean that two-thirds to three-quarters of what I do is a waste of time."
Professor Bill Sweeney of the Chemistry Department came forward with a handout containing information about how Caputo's plan “will damage” the College and should not be enacted. The handout was contradictory in stating that the plan is potentially damaging. It continues by saying that "top rank institutions having excellent undergraduate and graduate programs and a unified School of Arts and Sciences have a richer administrative structure than that proposed."
Although members of the Senate voiced their concerns over the proposal, President Caputo and the Arts and Sciences Transitional Committee see a number of advantages to a School of Arts and Sciences. The new dean will focus o issues of instruction, curriculum and research. The Dean of Programs in Education, Hugh Scott, said that he has “pleaded with the President to stop being so democratic about the issue.” Scott went on to say that it’s OK that the Senate opposes the plan. “Now they need to get together and ask Caputo what they can do to help. In short, the present divisions will have to interact with one another and work as one.”
