A proposal to split the Department of Romance and Classical Languages into two smaller units moved on to the next stage of debate.
The Executive Committee of Academic Council decided Tuesday to send the plan to the MSU Board of Trustees. In the plan, Spanish and Portuguese will make up one program and French, Italian and classical languages will comprise the other.
MSU Provost Lou Anna Simon said breaking the languages into smaller units will help each program function more efficiently.
"It makes enormous sense in the maturation and development in the long run," Simon said. "While there are always details to work out, this is something I support."
If approved by the Board of Trustees, the proposal would take effect July 1.
The council decided the proposal should move past Academic Governance.
Ralph Taggart, a plant biology professor who sat on the committee, said the change in the department will help the university manage budget difficulties.
"We've got to keep the store open," he said. "In a sense, this is an indication that we are still open for business. We're still in a positive mode, despite budget restrictions."
Simon assured the council the division of the department would only involve restructuring - there won't be any faculty cutbacks, but added there could be some program changes in the distant future.
"The act of splitting has opened up a bunch of discussions that have the potential of moving us forward academically," she said.
The change also will be done with a limited amount of funding.
"We got down to the issue by saying, 'If this is important, we have to do it on a minimal level," Simon said. "We have to not only consolidate and worry about efficiency, we have to worry about the future."
And if the department splits, the future for some language programs will be better, Simon said.
"No one is going to forget about Spanish," said Wendy Wilkins, dean of the College of Arts and Letters. "The smaller languages simply need nurturing."
But it won't be disastrous if this proposal isn't approved, said John Rauk, interim chairman of the Department of Romance and Classical Languages.
"We have a good faculty, we have a good department," he said. "There is no problem this split is addressing."
Rauk said he was glad the proposal was generally approved by members in the executive committee and hopes the Board of Trustees approves it as well.
"It was nice to see the positive perception of the members," he said.
