After Being Suspended, German Minor Expected to be Back by Next Fall

Petition by Student Association Successful, Vote to be Seen at Senate

NewsMiriam Lafontaine — Published October 21, 2017

A vote on the matter will be put forward by Roy at the next senate meeting on Nov. 10, and he expects it’ll go through without contention.

“We strongly believe it will be approved,” he said.“If all goes well, the program will be able to admit students in the fall.”

“It would be great if the new curriculum got approved and admissions [were to start] in 2018,” said coordinator of the program Stefan Bronner, who’s grateful to hear the news.

Admissions into the minor were initially suspended because Roy and the other deans in Arts and Science decided last semester that enrollment rates for the program were not high enough.

Roy, and the other deans in Arts and Science, decided to bring the vote to senate after a number of plans were made to widen the curriculum of the program. He said the title of the program will be changed from German minor to German Studies.

He says soon there there will be more interdisciplinary classes that focus on German culture and history. They’re broadening the program with the hope that it’ll become more attractive to students who want to do more than just learn the language, and Bronner helped in the reshaping of the curriculum.

“Our intent was really to look into curriculum,” said Roy. “The changes are happening, and we’re all supportive of that.”

With the change, they hope to see more students applying to the program.

Students from the Concordia German Language Student Association had petitioned the administration to revoke their decision last semester, and are happy to hear the news.

“We were just trying to do the best that we could to fight for the program,” said CGLSA President Shugofa Danesh. “Because going up against an administration is always going to be hard, but we did the best that we could, and thank god we pulled through.”

“Going up against an administration is always going to be hard, but we did the best that we could, and thank god we pulled through” –Shugofa Danesh

She thanks the American Association for Teachers of German, who wrote a letter advocating against the suspension to Roy, the German consulate and the Goethe-Institut for all showing support when the future of the program was unknown.

Short Term Employment Likely to Still be an Issue

It’s still unknown whether the program will see more professors hired under long-term contracts. The program has only ever had a program coordinator, the head of the program, contracted under a Limited Term Appointment, the CGLSA said in a statement last year.

Those with LTA contracts must reapply to their positions every nine months, and the longest that an LTA can stay in their position is three years. Once a professor’s three years have run out, they have to wait two years to be eligible again.

Bronner and the CGLSA hope to see the program coordinator contracted with an Extended Term Appointment, rather than an LTA. Under ETA contracts, those in the position work for a minimum of three years before having to go through a renewal process. If they’re renewed after their third year, they can get a five-year contract.

Longer contracts allow for the growth of institutional knowledge, and that’s something Bronner, Roy and the CGLSA all agree with. In the Concordia University Faculty Association’s collective bargaining agreement, it says that LTA contracts should only be used to replace a faculty member on leave, to temporarily fill an open tenure track, or to temporarily deal with a need in teaching.

Roy said he would like to see the position changed into a ETA contract instead, but the option to do so isn’t always available.

“ETAs are so rare, and the competition for ETA positions across the university—not just for Arts and Science—is fierce,” Roy said. “This year, we had three ETA positions available, in the whole of the university.”

Bronner will end his three year contract this academic year, and so won’t be able to apply again for another two years. Roy says he’ll put an effort into getting an ETA contract for the coordinator position, but given the competition, it’s very likely the position will stay stuck under an LTA contract.

“Like all other programs, the German Program deserves basic stability and a future that we can build on,” said Bronner in an email to The Link. “Another LTA is better than nothing, but also means stagnation in a way.

Roy said it’s a problem there’s not more ETA contracts available in the school, since professors under LTA contracts who finish their three years can’t be rewarded for their work with future employment.