Russian language enrollement

[David T. Murphy]

Dear Prof. Hutchens,

        Sorry to learn of your predicament. In my judgment, the
administrators are making their decision under false assumptions, as I
think you will learn from other instructors replying to your letter. At
Saint Louis University the enrollments in Russian have traditionally been
on the low side, but this year we saw first-year Russian double from 10 to
20 students. The number of "double-majors" has also traditionally been high
as the retention rate in Russian is quite good. It is true that enrollments
fell sharply following the breakup of the USSRT, but they have yet to find
their new "water-level", so the school should not act hastily. In fact, my
understanding is that "real" jobs in Russian, that is non-government
related jobs, have never been more numerous. I could be wrong on that
score, but the other replies you receive should give you a decent overall
picture.
        Russia will increasingly be recognized once again as a major player
on the world scene and it is important for a university to maintain a
Russian program, particularly if it is functioning well. To let Russian go
would be extremely short-sighted.
        Good luck,
        David Murphy

>To whom it may concern:
>I am writing as a student from James Madison University in Harrisonburg,
>VA, and wanted to ask the SEELANG community for some information
>regarding Russian language enrollment (I have already contacted AATSEEL
>and was assured this was the best place to seek help).  JMU is
>trying to close our Russian Language and our Translation/Interpretation
>programs, two endeavors which the language and translation community
>feels set us apart from other universities in the area, (actually they
>have already decided to close these programs and let the faculty go, but we
>are vehemently fighting the decision),  The administration says that
>Russian enrollment nationwide is down, and for that reason Russian is not a
>necessary language to offer at JMU.  However, as the russnet.org web site
>indicates, enrollment went up in the '90's.  We don't really feel that the
>administration here values these programs enough, or even have the proper
>information to make a fair judgement.  If possible, could someone
>please write back to me in regards to the current situation of nationwide
>interest/enrollment in Russian programs?  We really do not want to see
>Russian disappear from our campus, since we feel that it remains a vital
>language in this age of globalization.  Thank you for your time,
>
>Jill Hutchens
>
>hutchejd at jmu.edu
>
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David T. Murphy, Ph.D.                                  Office:(314) 977-2454
Department of Modern and Classical Languages            Fax:   (314) 977-3649
Saint Louis University                                  Home:  (314) 664-6068
221 N. Grand Boulevard                                  Email: murphydt at slu.edu
St. Louis, MO 63103
http://www.slu.edu/colleges/AS/languages/index.html

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