It looks like the humanities will have a place in cross-school planning after all.
To the surprise of many faculty, Provost Peter Lange announced to the Academic Council Thursday that the humanities would be excluded from long-range planning across the schools. But the pronouncement was apparently due to an embarrassing communication failure between administrators; the arts and humanities will be included.
Originally, the arts and humanities were listed in addition to three other cross-school groups: one for information technology, one for social sciences, law and business and one for the sciences and engineering. But several days before the Academic Council meeting, William Chafe, dean of the faculty of arts and sciences, suggested the arts and humanities group be removed from the overall plan and that the review occur solely within Arts and Sciences.
"I had initially suggested this at the steering committee meeting because most of the arts and humanities are in [Arts and Sciences], and because I did not want our staff to be overburdened...," Chafe said, adding that they are involved in two other planning groups. "It was never the intention not to have arts and humanities as part of the inter-school planning efforts."
Chafe and his staff later decided this was the wrong course of action, however, "precisely because it might be taken to mean that we did not think the arts and humanities to be a University priority," he explained. But Chafe did not have time to notify Lange of the change in plans before leaving on a fund-raising trip early Thursday.
"This was primarily an issue of incompleted communications and not of substance or intent," Lange said.
John Harer, vice provost for academic affairs and overseer of the long-range planning process, said he and Lange were both unaware of Arts and Sciences' changed viewpoint before the Academic Council meeting. He noted that since receiving word, the committee for the arts and humanities cross-school group has again been added to the planning structure.
The committee's membership and charge will be determined this week.
Chafe added that the communication error was "my own fault," and said that he has apologized to Lange.
Harer, however, said, "It is my job to make sure that all the units work together to create the plan the University needs at this time. Any errors in communication are therefore ultimately mine."
Lange said he did not believe the issue was of primary concern to many of those at the council meeting, and added that he has received few complaints concerning the absence of the humanities from the cross-school planning group list.
"I am hopeful that... a planning update which we will communicate to the faculty when all our working groups are organized will relieve any residual anxieties," he said.
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