Canada Matters

\

Dear friends,

Recently, the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences informed me that she intends to withdraw all funding ($35,000, which covers our staff and office costs) from the Canadian Studies Center on Main Street. The Dean's plan right now is to shut the office down on June 30 and to move our administrator to another job in the College. This money will be reallocated to areas that the College deems to be of higher priority.

Founded in 1964, the University of Vermont's Canadian Studies Program is one of the oldest, most respected programs in North America. It's reputation and long, productive history was what lured me to UVM five years ago and has continued to attract new tenure-track faculty such as Professors Amani Whitfield, Shelly Rayback, and Pablo Bose, all of whom are doing fascinating, cutting-edge research on Canada.

Although the University administration is justifying their cuts to our office with the argument that we only have three majors and two minors in our program and very few connected faculty, this does not accurately reflect the student and faculty involvement in our program. As of 2007-08, we have 10 tenured and tenure-track faculty and three lecturers teaching courses on Canada, and our program today is the strongest it has been in years. In the past year alone, our associated faculty from the departments of History, Geography, Romance Languages, English, Political Science and Anthropology taught 22 courses with either full or partial Canadian content, reaching close to 600 students.

Last year, 65 of our students and 15 Canadian Politics students from Saint Michael's College travelled to Ottawa as part of our legendary, annual field trip to Canada's capital, a trip that has run every year since the mid 1950s. Our program also hosts many high-profile events across campus, such as the visit to campus in October by the Grand Chief of the Council of the Quebec Crees, who spoke to a standing-room-only crowd at the Livak Ballroom about the relationship between the Cree and the Governments of Canada and Quebec whose massive hydro projects have flooded traditional lands in order to provide electricity to Quebec and much of New England.

The closure of our offices will, we believe, effectively end our chances of continuing to receive the Program Enhancement grant we receive each year from the Canadian Embassy in Washington. This year's grant was close to $10,000 and it is what allows us to run the annual student trip to Ottawa, and the many events we put on at UVM. It will also end the travel and research support we frequently give to our associated faculty, which often doubles what their home departments are able to provide.

Needless to say this cut will have a profound impact on the shape of our students' education and on the research and teaching done by the individual faculty members associated with our program. This decision is something that will affect all of us in one way or another. Given our proximity to Canada and its importance in Vermont's history, economy and daily life, this will also most certainly be a major embarrassment to the University of Vermont. Canada does matter to our students and faculty, and it's important that it continue to have a strong place at our state's flagship university.

Over the last several weeks, I've kept things quiet about this decision as we tried to negotiate a compromise solution and demonstrate the need for the continued presence of the office and support staff that enables us to run all of these programs. These attempts appear to have been unsuccessful. Unfortunately, our attempts to persuade the administration are now turning to the media, a move that, as an untenured professor at UVM, I have chosen not to direct. Although I have recently spoken to a Burlington Free Press reporter who called for information as part of a story they are doing on our program, this statement on my blog will be my primary contribution to this effort. I will provide information about our program to those who ask, but I will leave the rhetoric to my fine, tenured colleagues and to all those in the UVM community who are upset about this decision.

Finally, I'd like to add that, although I disagree strongly with this decision and the arguments being made to justify it, I have great respect for the people currently leading the College of Arts and Sciences and the University of Vermont. I realize that Dean Miller and Provost Hughes are faced with difficult decisions every day and I believe them when they tell me that this was one of them. I remain hopeful, though, that a compromise can be reached that will see us keep our well-utilized space and support staff that are so crucial to the continued success of our program.

If you would like to offer your support, I encourage you to leave your comments below and/or contact the offices of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Provost, or the President.

Respectfully,

Paul Martin