Purpose:
The purpose of this committee is to take the lead in creating solutions to
the current (acute) and the long-standing (chronic) problems in the
department.
Problems:
The recent departure of Professor Caprioli has highlighted some of the
problems in the department. Among these are:
- Lack of senior faculty in International Relations;
- Lack of senior faculty in Comparative Politics;
- Junior faculty teaching the graduate-level courses, while the senior
faculty do not;
- Low amount of financial support from the department;
- Low level of graduate student interest in the department; and
- Declining admittance standards.
This list is not all-inclusive. If there are other problems that need
to be addressed, please let the chair know.
Deadline:
The faculty will have a retreat for a day on the last week of summer
break. If we wish to have our suggestions heard, we need to have consensus
by then.
Department Answers:
The department's GCC has already suggested a few answers to some of the
above problems. They include:
- Actively encouraging students to not write dissertations in
International Relations, even if they entered the program with that goal.
- Not hiring an International Relations professor until the 2006-2007
school year.
Our Answers:
We have none, yet. The purpose of this ad hoc committee is to create
those answers that are more fair to the students who have been here, to create
those answers that make the department stronger as a whole, and to create
answers that make the graduate experience better.
The Committee:
Ex-Officio: Troy Goodale
Chair:
V-Chair:
Members:
The Next Meeting:
To be announced.
Contact:
Contact the president at: gsops@utk.edu
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