Hamline University considering changes in curriculum, staffing

Hamline University in St. Paul is reexamining its curriculum and staffing.

A faculty group, along with some administrators, have been working on recommendations for changes since last spring.

Preliminary recommendations include cutting French instruction and rolling programs such as Women's Studies and African American Studies under the broader umbrella of Social Justice majors or minors.

College of Liberal Arts Dean Marcela Kostihova said the school reviews programs every three years.

"Program review is always going to result in some staffing changes but at this point I'm not imagining that any of that will have to do with our tenured full-time faculty," said Kostihova. "But again, everything is preliminary right now and we have recommendations that range from how do we organize our general curriculum to what we're thinking in terms of programs."

Kostihova said it's clear that some adjustments need to be made. For example, she notes that no one has taken a minor in African American Studies for three years. But courses with related curriculum in other subjects such as sociology fill up quickly, often with waiting lists.

"This program review basically allowed us to recognize that we have not done our due diligence in the way that we structured the curriculum in that program," said Kostihova. "It's completely out of sync with what we need to be offering at this particular historical moment."

Kostihova said budgets are always a consideration, but not the dominant one. She said no changes are expected until late this year or early next year.