2008 Woodie Awards
Environmental studies to get new professor, possibly save major
Amber Chemam
Issue date: 4/2/07 Section: Front Page
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Sister Damien Marie Savino will join current environmental studies department chair Maury Harris and assistant professor William Fenner on a part-time basis. Sister Savino, who holds a doctorate in engineering studies and master's degrees in soil science and theology, will serve as a replacement for professor Ravi Srinivas, who was named director of the MLA program last semester.
Sister Savino will divide her work between the environmental studies and Catholic studies departments. According to Harris, it has not been determined how those divisions will be made, but some courses that will satisfy requirements from both departments could be co-listed in the catalog.
Harris added that he did not think that the program would be able to continue without an increase in enrollment unless a new faculty member was brought in. "It would be very hard, in the short term, to offer a major without her," he said.
Sister Savino will help revise the current environmental studies curriculum and set up a new program. Harris said Sister Savino will bring experience regarding how other schools' environmental studies departments function.
"She'll give us an outside viewpoint," Harris said.
The decision to terminate the environmental studies major was made last semester by the Office of Academic Affairs. The program is temporarily suspended and cannot be declared as a major by any new students.
Upper-level courses are still being offered for students who had already declared the major, and the University is allowing some students to declare general studies with environmental studies as their concentration.
The department currently has about a dozen students compared with 30 students 12 years ago. It has seen a decline in enrollment since its creation in 1992, Harris said.
"[The department] started off very good," he said. "I think [the deparment] made some changes that didn't fit the market of students."
Harris has actively promoted the department, sending out 2,000 emails and 500 letters to prospective students last year. All postage was paid out of the department's funds.