The Educational Plans and Programs committee has issued a questionnaire to College department chairs asking them to justify positions within their departments and assess the effects of staffing cuts on their academic programs. The questionnaire is among the first concrete actions taken by the College in a plan to eliminate seven faculty positions from the college of arts and sciences over the next five years.

The move was announced to the College Faculty in a meeting on Wednesday by EPPC members Erik Inglis of the art history department and Grover Zinn of the the dean’s office.

“We see this as a way of getting this process started,” said Inglis. “It seemed best to solicit this input and get insights from other perspectives.”

The College plans to eliminate positions vacated by retirements and resignations. According to College Dean Jeffrey Witmer, positions are always reviewed when this happens.

“Typically positions that are not reappointed lose their identity and are put into a ‘black box’ before being reassigned to other departments,” Witmer said.

Among the more drastic portions of the survey is a question that asks, “Were you to be faced with a reduction in faculty, how would this affect your curriculum?”

Department heads are also asked to explain, “why your department needs to remain at its present strength” and “how your present offerings contribute to the breadth and depth of your major, as well as how your courses serve the larger college community.”

It is also clear from the questionnaire that the provisions of the recently passed strategic plan will also play a role in determining which departments are affected.

“How does your curriculum contribute to the goals of the new strategic plan?” it asks.

EPPC feels that a review of this type is long overdue.

“There are departments that haven’t been reviewed in over 10 years,” said EPPC member and computer science professor Robert Geitz.

Despite this, it is widely felt that difficult decisions will have to be made in the coming years about which positions will be cut and which will be retained.

Religion professor Paula Richman put it this way,

“This is going to be a very painful process and I hope people realize that everyone is in an impossible situation.”

The memo containing the questionnaire was sent out today and must be completed by April 11.