Fuchs

The Africana Studies and Research Center (ASRC) will establish a Ph.D. program, with increased resources that will include new faculty positions and enhanced administrative support, Provost Kent Fuchs announced in a statement Dec. 1.

The program is part of Fuchs' decision, effective July 1, 2011, to have Africana Studies report to the College of Arts and Sciences. ASRC will retain its faculty and staff, and remain in its current location on North Campus.

"ASRC is not being dismantled," Fuchs said. "Its internal administrative structure will remain unchanged. ASRC will remain a coherent, contained unit."

In its new academic home, ASRC "will receive additional funding, new faculty positions, and the critical academic and administrative support that a college is best able to provide," he said. Currently, ASRC reports directly to the Office of the Provost.

"My goal in making this change is to provide the robust level of academic support that significant programs, such as Africana Studies, have a right to expect," Fuchs said. "The new Ph.D. program will strongly increase the national prominence of Africana Studies and bolster Cornell's ability to attract superb faculty and students."

ASRC Director Robert Harris has decided to resign in protest. "I regret Bob's decision, and I hope his colleagues in Africana will join me in asking him to reconsider his decision. Bob can bring his deep understanding of the needs and aspirations of the Center to the discussions during the transition over the next several months, between now and July 1," Fuchs said.

The decision to have Africana Studies report to Arts and Sciences stems from the Reimagining Cornell initiative, which aims to create a leaner, yet more academically distinguished university. Fuchs has said that while the university is reducing resources for some academic programs, it is enhancing others, such as Africana studies. The decision also follows a review of the Office of the Provost's capacity to oversee individual programs.

"The truth is that the Office of the Provost is simply no longer designed or equipped to provide suitable academic support and oversight that significant programs, such as the Africana Studies and Research Center, have a right to expect," Fuchs said. "The center will benefit from the college's robust systems, which have demonstrated their ability to support critical faculty hiring, tenure and promotion, and will best serve the center's administrative needs. This has been the experience at other top universities where Africana studies programs are a part of the liberal arts college, thereby permitting the broadest connection with the intellectual life of the institution."

Peter Lepage, the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, pointed out that undergraduates already are, in effect, Arts and Sciences students: The college admits and advises them, offers their curriculum through its courses of study, and awards their undergraduate degrees. "When Africana Studies joins Arts and Sciences, it will receive substantial additional support, including collaboration with our deans on the management of academic matters," Lepage said. "Africana students will continue to benefit from the college's offices of admissions, advising and career services. Africana Studies will be supported by all of the college's administrative offices."

Lepage and Elizabeth Adkins-Regan, associate dean of Arts and Sciences, will work with Harris and Vice Provost for International Relations Alice Pell to manage the administrative transition. "I look forward to working with Bob Harris, during his remaining time as director, to help guide Africana's transition into the College of Arts and Sciences. Perhaps the most far-reaching outcome of welcoming Africana Studies into the college will be our collaboration to create a Ph.D. program," Lepage said.