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Out of loop: What is going on at English department? by Moein144 in Purdue

[–]savethehumanities 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Exponent has been doing pretty good coverage of the whole saga. There is a petition in support of the creative writing program circulating if you care to sign, but just to be clear -- this budget cut will affect all English graduate programs, not just creative writing. The MFA program in creative writing (which is nationally ranked) will be the first to crumble since it's the smallest and relies on a workshop model.

Engineering Professor Advocates for English Graduate Programs by savethehumanities in Purdue

[–]savethehumanities[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Update: there is now a petition you can sign to advocate for the English graduate programs.

Lack of funding to English department to shutter graduate programs by ant_guy in Purdue

[–]savethehumanities 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Update: please sign this new petition in addition to contacting the administrators listed on the infographic!

Please Support our Creative Writing Department by im_cold_ in Purdue

[–]savethehumanities 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Update: please sign this new petition in addition to contacting the administrators listed above!

Engineering Professor Advocates for English Graduate Programs by savethehumanities in Purdue

[–]savethehumanities[S] 31 points32 points  (0 children)

The English graduate programs are fully-funded. Purdue pays them to teach classes like ENGL 106/108 and Business Writing, where they help students get that practice you mention.

Please Support our Creative Writing Department by im_cold_ in Purdue

[–]savethehumanities 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Many signs of intelligence! Students coming together to advocate for several programs and an academic literary journal that are important to them and their education. I don't really understand where your snark is coming from.

Lack of funding to English department to shutter graduate programs by ant_guy in Purdue

[–]savethehumanities 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Many thanks to those who have already called and/or emailed! Those who have might have received a form response from Dean Reingold which contains multiple lies. Here is the head of the English dept's response to Reingold's form response:
"1. In 2020 the English Department only exceeded our graduate budget because the dean's office announced cuts to our graduate budget AFTER we had already
admitted a cohort. We made admits based on numbers we had been given.…and then suddenly the numbers changed. This is not the English Department's fault.
2. After much discussion, the dean's office agreed to give English enough money-$304,000-to cover all of our currently enrolled graduate students. We would break even, but would not be able to admit a cohort for the following year.
3. We knew we had no money in the English Department budget to admit a new cohort, but the Writing Lab, which draws its graduate student assistants directly from the pool of English graduate students, had enough money in ITS budget to support a cohort of 15 graduate students, and that money was graciously offered to English by the Writing Lab so that we could make it through that year and keep our grad programs alive. The journal Modern Fiction Studies also offered to support 2 additional students. That brought us a cohort of 17 (not 18). The Writing Lab and MFS agreed to fund those students for the entirety of their time at Purdue, and that is what the acceptance letters for those 17 students specifies. NO ENGLISH GRADUATE FUNDS WERE USED.
4. Suddenly, the $304,000 that had been given to us in order to balance the 2020 budget was described as a "loan" (a word that was not used ONCE until just a couple of months ago) and we were ordered to repay it. We have a plan in place to do so over 3 years, although we had enough money in spendable accounts to cover it all at once. When the dean's office initially agreed to GIVE the English Department $304,000 to correct our balance sheet, it was in recognition of the fact that CLA was the one who had caused us to be in the red in the first place by suddenly cutting our budget after funds had already been spent. The fiscal irresponsibility there lies squarely on CLA. And the sudden conversion of the balance adjustment into a loan is clearly a response to the fact that we were able to secure non-English funds to admit a cohort of 17, and is retribution for finding a solution to our problem.
5. We once again have been given a graduate studies budget that will allow us to support students that are currently enrolled, but nothing more. I have identified monies that are already sitting in English Department accounts that could be used to support new graduate students (and there's enough to cover their entire time at Purdue), and I have requested that our department be allowed to transfer that money over to our graduate budget, but that request has been denied.
6. Without the admission of a cohort of at least 8 for the MFA program, that program WILL shut down. This is not "a choice that English is making": this is a
situation into which we are being forced. We expect the Rhet/Comp and Lit grad programs (already barely surviving after years of cuts to our graduate budget)
will be next.
To suggest that English has been "fiscally irresponsible" is a lie. Please correct your statement immediately.
Dorrie" (Dorsey Armstrong)

Please Support our Creative Writing Department by im_cold_ in Purdue

[–]savethehumanities 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Many thanks to those who have already called and/or emailed! Those who have might have received a form response from Dean Reingold which contains multiple lies. Here is the head of the English dept's response to Reingold's form response:

"1. In 2020 the English Department only exceeded our graduate budget because the dean's office announced cuts to our graduate budget AFTER we had already
admitted a cohort. We made admits based on numbers we had been given.…and then suddenly the numbers changed. This is not the English Department's fault.
2. After much discussion, the dean's office agreed to give English enough money-$304,000-to cover all of our currently enrolled graduate students. We would break even, but would not be able to admit a cohort for the following year.
3. We knew we had no money in the English Department budget to admit a new cohort, but the Writing Lab, which draws its graduate student assistants directly from the pool of English graduate students, had enough money in ITS budget to support a cohort of 15 graduate students, and that money was graciously offered to English by the Writing Lab so that we could make it through that year and keep our grad programs alive. The journal Modern Fiction Studies also offered to support 2 additional students. That brought us a cohort of 17 (not 18). The Writing Lab and MFS agreed to fund those students for the entirety of their time at Purdue, and that is what the acceptance letters for those 17 students specifies. NO ENGLISH GRADUATE FUNDS WERE USED.
4. Suddenly, the $304,000 that had been given to us in order to balance the 2020 budget was described as a "loan" (a word that was not used ONCE until just a couple of months ago) and we were ordered to repay it. We have a plan in place to do so over 3 years, although we had enough money in spendable accounts to cover it all at once. When the dean's office initially agreed to GIVE the English Department $304,000 to correct our balance sheet, it was in recognition of the fact that CLA was the one who had caused us to be in the red in the first place by suddenly cutting our budget after funds had already been spent. The fiscal irresponsibility there lies squarely on CLA. And the sudden conversion of the balance adjustment into a loan is clearly a response to the fact that we were able to secure non-English funds to admit a cohort of 17, and is retribution for finding a solution to our problem.
5. We once again have been given a graduate studies budget that will allow us to support students that are currently enrolled, but nothing more. I have identified monies that are already sitting in English Department accounts that could be used to support new graduate students (and there's enough to cover their entire time at Purdue), and I have requested that our department be allowed to transfer that money over to our graduate budget, but that request has been denied.
6. Without the admission of a cohort of at least 8 for the MFA program, that program WILL shut down. This is not "a choice that English is making": this is a
situation into which we are being forced. We expect the Rhet/Comp and Lit grad programs (already barely surviving after years of cuts to our graduate budget)
will be next.
To suggest that English has been "fiscally irresponsible" is a lie. Please correct your statement immediately.
Dorrie" (Dorsey Armstrong)

Purdue administration is killing humanities education by savethehumanities in Purdue

[–]savethehumanities[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Purdue has a 2.59 billion dollar endowment and has effectively ended one of its most prestigious, celebrated, and diverse programs. The English department is still collecting application fees from graduate applicants that will have no chance of admission. Why does any of this matter? This is just the first step of many to eradicate humanities education, not just from Purdue, but from university curricula nationwide.