In December, 10 English majors grew so frustrated with their department that they sent a lengthy letter to two university administrators and five English professors.
In their protest, the students cited what they called minimal course offerings, faculty turnover, a “senior portfolio” class that duplicates an “intro to the major” class, and a curriculum that does not adequately prepare students for careers after they graduate.
“What could be a cutting edge English department at USFSP, in one of the fastest growing cities for young professionals and artists, instead feels like a confused mix of educational ideologies and slightly outdated, out of touch execution of them upon the students,” the letter said.
The primary author, senior Philip Belcastro, said he has received no response from the university.
But Dr. Lisa Starks-Estes, who became chair of the Verbal and Visual Arts Department in January, said changes are underway that will address most of the students’ concerns.
“We met as a program and went through all of the items in that letter, and we talked about every single one,” she said.
“We are not a large literature department,” she said. “But we completely agree that we should offer literatures taught in English by diverse writers with diverse backgrounds; this year we had some instructors on sabbatical, and some professors on leave… so we have done the very best that we could.”
The Department of Verbal and Visual Arts offers an English major in two areas of specialization.
The first, called literature and cultural studies, is designed to prepare students to be communicators and researchers, whether they move into careers or into graduate and professional schools, according to the department’s website.
The second, called writing studies, is designed to prepare students to work as “innovative professional communicators” in government, business, medicine and other fields.
In the fall semester, the program had 133 undergraduate English majors and 10 English professors. Three of those professors were part-time adjuncts.
Belcastro’s letter, which was signed by nine other English majors, was sent on Dec. 1 to Dr. Jeffrey Cornelius, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, with copies to Assistant Dean Susan Toler, Starks-Estes and four other English faculty members. It arrived shortly before department chair Thomas Hallock gave way to Starks-Estes.
The letter cited issues in both of the department’s areas of specialization.
In an interview with the Crow’s Nest, Starks-Estes indicated the department is working to address the students’ concerns.
She said the program has a relatively new process for class scheduling that should help solve the problem of class availability.
It is a four-year plan that provides a structured class scheduling that rotates courses so students can consistently get the classes they need to graduate, she said. The academic advising office helps schedule courses with the faculty, and Toler also examines the schedule to make certain all necessary courses are offered.
“The more eyes on the class schedule, the better,” said Starks-Estes. “We really don’t want to miss anything.”
Perhaps the students’ strongest criticism was directed at what they called “applicability of the major.”
There is “no sense of cohesion among students wondering what they are going to do after graduation, and not knowing how to pay bills with an English degree,” said the students.
They said English majors who intend to pursue teaching careers should be able to take classes in the College of Education.
Literature classes “could include some philosophy, advertising, publishing, and screenwriting, while writing classes could include teaching, grant and speech writing, and even rhetoric and law,” they said.
“An English program shouldn’t be producing students who have no concept of how to produce a professional publication of any kind.”
Hallock is now advising Sigma Tau Delta, the honors society for English majors. The organization has plans to expand and begin a literary magazine for students’ work.
Starks-Estes said that professors have been offering experiential service learning, citing professors in the Writing Studies department, who have provided service learning, work with nonprofits and marginalized communities. She says the English program has a long history of working with the community in different ways.
She said English majors who want training to teach English as a second language can minor in courses in the College of Education. But the department does not have the resources to offer language courses alongside world literature courses.
“As a department we are always looking into our curriculum,” said Starks-Estes. “We’ve put some changes forth just recently to ensure that writing studies students and literature and cultural studies students take courses in both tracks.”
Belcastro said he is cautiously optimistic about the changes the department is making, but frustrated that students were not involved in the discussion.
“I was hoping this would help to create a three-way dialogue, a way for the students, faculty and administrators to all discuss the future of our education,” he said.
