By Alannah Smith, Contributing Writer
The Modern Languages Department at Daemen University has terminated all higher-level Spanish courses because of the decreasing number of students declaring a minor in Spanish.
According to Dr. Melissa Fiori, associate professor of Spanish applied linguistics, she used to have “50-something to 60-something” dedicated students getting a Spanish minor, while now there are only three.
“When you have lower enrollment, there are decisions to not run courses,” Fiori said.
When declaring a minor, students are not required to follow through and finish it. They can stop taking the necessary classes and simply not have the minor they previously declared when they graduate.
The Modern Languages Department has encountered this issue, resulting in decreasing numbers of students taking the courses each semester
“Some students express interest, but don’t necessarily follow through,” said Fiori.
This is another contribution to decreasing class sizes in the 200-level courses. The decision also was influenced by the change in the course sequence for the Bachelor of Arts in Spanish degree at Daemen. There are less students needing those 200-level Spanish courses since displaying proficiency is no longer a requirement.
This seemed abrupt to Dr. Lori Chilcott, instructor of Spanish language, who teaches most of the 200-level Spanish classes at Daemen.
Chilcott said, “I am not privy to a lot of the discussion because I’m an adjunct.” “They [Modern Languages Department] treat a little bit differently, right, if you’re full-time or even part-time versus adjunct.”
In terms of the time frame of the decision, Fiori said, “Dr. Telford retired over the summer, and that prompted some adjustments to the curriculum.”
Dr. Kevin Telford was the chair of modern languages and associate professor of French at Daemen.
Students will now have to decide to either study abroad, or cross-register at another college. If they are incoming freshmen, they may decide to go to another college to obtain a degree with both the major and minor they wish to have.
There are currently two students who are one or two classes away from completing their minor. To try to get Daemen to offer these last few classes, Joshua Trometer, a junior physical therapy major on path for a Spanish minor, reached out to Fiori in an email.
“I asked if there was another way I could finish my minor in Spanish. I was told that I could either study abroad or go to another school to finish my degree,” Trometer said.
Trometer said, “I’m annoyed. I wish I had known earlier, like this summer, that they would be cutting the Spanish courses and not now. If I had known earlier, I would not have taken Spanish this semester and would have just taken the remainder of the Spanish classes I needed at ECC over the summer.”
The seemingly abrupt termination of these classes has left students like Trometer unable to finish their minor using the scholarships that would count toward their cost of tuition.
However, you can apply for study abroad scholarships as well.
According to the Daemen Global Programs website, scholarships usually have to be applied for “within 4-12 months prior to the program start date.”
Students can visit the Global Programs Office in Duns Scotus 149 to plan a study abroad experience and decide what’s best for the student individually.
Even with the possible financial challenges that come with studying abroad, however, it can be beneficial, and the pros can greatly outweigh the cons.
“If somebody wants to become interculturally and inter-linguistically proficient and gain the skill set for their profession, one year abroad to do that is nothing…when you’re retiring at whatever age you retire or you’re reflecting on your life at 84 you won’t think ‘well, I’m sorry I took that year’,” said Fiori.
Fiori said “never say never” to these Spanish classes coming back.
To get these classes back, however, Fiori said dedicated students would need to be in groups for Daemen to see the numbers to have these classes offered again.
“When it comes to scheduling and when it comes to organizing all of that [Spanish classes], we wouldn’t be able to run it if we had three students this semester and two students another semester,” Fiori said.
Fiori mentions that students would have to declare their minor, be dedicated, and follow through with registering for these classes.