[Edling] LSA Message on Elimination of Linguistics at West Virginia University

Fri Aug 25 10:36:32 UTC 2023

<https://linguisticsociety.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=001f7eb7302f6add98bff7e46&id=c864a6acee&e=eb1ac2b87a>

08/17/23

*We are sending the letter below to you out of a deep concern for the cuts
to academic programs recently announced at West Virginia University,
including the elimination of the Department of World Languages,
Literatures, and Linguistics. We will be sending a letter directly to
President Gee about this matter as well. *

*Tony Woodbury, President*
*John Baugh, Past president*
*Marlyse Baptista, Incoming president*
*Frederick Newmeyer, Secretary Treasurer*

*Linguistic Society of America*
My name is Jonah Katz; I'm an associate professor of linguistics at West
Virginia University. I work in a large department that includes all of the
world languages and literatures at WVU in addition to its 'basic' and
applied linguistics programs. On August 10, 2023, the WVU provost
recommended dissolving our department and all of its academic programs and
faculty lines, including the only Linguistics programs in the state of West
Virginia (our MA and undergrad minor). All of the tenured and untenured
faculty in the department are to be laid off, including the linguistics
faculty. All of the foreign language and literature programs at the
university are to be discontinued; the president of the university publicly
stated that foreign-language classes will be replaced with online apps or
remote classes at other universities. I'm asking linguists to help us
publicize what's happened here and advocate on our behalf.

We are a very small program (4 faculty in basic linguistics and 4-5 more in
applied linguistics/TESOL), but punch well above our weight in both
research output and external grant funding. In fact, on the same day WVU
wrote to tell us our department is cancelled and we are fired, they
ran a front-page
article
<https://linguisticsociety.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=001f7eb7302f6add98bff7e46&id=91ab28b29f&e=eb1ac2b87a>
on the university website celebrating the NSF grant that Sergio
Robles-Puente and I recently received, and lauding our innovative research
and intensive student mentoring. That grant will now need to be
discontinued or moved to another institution. WVU linguists more generally
have served thousands of students here over decades. They have helped
document and preserve the unique linguistic heritage of the region, from
ethnographic studies on Appalachian English in public-school classrooms to
the only existing work documenting the Spanish spoken in West Virginia.
They have helped train generations of public-school foreign-language and
English teachers in a state facing a dire shortage of K-12 educators. And
they have served as one of the few connections between West Virginia
students and the larger world, from study-abroad programs to scientific
training that has prepared students for graduate study at some of the most
prestigious institutions in the United States and beyond.

The reason given for this egregious violation of ethical and professional
norms is that the university faces a dire budget crisis, and the
administration has no choice but to cut academic programs in order to close
their structural budget deficit. But the administration's own financial
data, gathered at great cost with external consultants and publicly posted
here
<https://linguisticsociety.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=001f7eb7302f6add98bff7e46&id=442bae39bc&e=eb1ac2b87a>,
clearly indicate that the department as a whole (p. 7) has generated
operating profits of more than $800,000 in each of the last three years,
even without counting our grant income, which is substantial (our NSF
project is just one of several large external grants that faculty in our
department have been awarded in the past several years). This is not a
financial decision: it is an ideological one, as our president's public
comments make clear.

The story of how the university got into such a catastrophic financial
position to begin with is a long and complex one, and tangential to my
message here. But for those interested, the exposé in the Chronicle of
Higher Education titled “Why is West Virginia U. Making Sweeping Cuts?”
(unfortunately paywalled for many readers) and this anonymous report
<https://linguisticsociety.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=001f7eb7302f6add98bff7e46&id=9935d3106c&e=eb1ac2b87a>by
WVU faculty demonstrate convincingly that skyrocketing administrative
personnel costs and excessive debt associated with a failed growth strategy
are two of the major drivers (declining enrollment, COVID, and inadequate
state funding also played a role).

To be honest, I don't know if anything that we can do will help the
situation. The leadership of the university has made up its mind, they have
the backing of state politicians and the board they appointed to oversee
the university, and they will not be swayed by appeals to reason or ideals.
What they may respond to is public pressure, and to that end I am asking my
colleagues to share what is happening here as widely as you can through all
available media and professional networks. Sunlight is the best
disinfectant, and we need a whole lot of disinfectant at my institution.
You could also consider writing to the people who made these decisions and
their enablers, and if you represent an organization like a department or
institute, consider doing so publicly in an open letter. Let them know what
you think of the decision to eliminate all foreign language, literature,
and linguistics classes at a public land-grant state flagship, and to fire
all faculty regardless of merit, longevity, or tenure. Let them know how
this will affect the reputation of West Virginia University and the state
that it represents. Let them know how it will affect young people's
prospects and their choices in one of the poorest and least-educated states
in the country, where huge numbers of our most talented and driven young
people are already leaving to seek better educational and professional
opportunities. Thank you for your time, and to my many wonderful colleagues
who have reached out this week to ask how you can help. I am lucky beyond
belief to work in such a supportive, principled, and collaborative field,
and to have so many amazing mentors and colleagues. Linguists really are
the best.

University leadership directly in charge of this process include President
Gordon Gee <Gordon.Gee at mail.wvu.edu?subject=null&body=null> and Provost
Maryanne Reed <Maryanne.Reed at mail.wvu.edu?subject=null&body=null>. The WVU
Board of Governors is a politically appointed body that is supposed to
oversee the administration of the university and will eventually need to
approve the provost's recommendations. They can be contacted via Special
Assistant Valerie Lopez <Valerie.Lopez at mail.wvu.edu?subject=null&body=null>.
Governor Jim Justice appointed most of the Board and has strongly supported
Gee during his term. His office can be contacted using this form
<https://linguisticsociety.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=001f7eb7302f6add98bff7e46&id=cc540ee7fb&e=eb1ac2b87a>.

Sincerely yours,

Jonah Katz, Associate Professor of Linguistics
West Virginia University
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