Cross Disciplinary Studies (CDS) Programs are constellations of course offerings whose intent is to give students and faculty some topical foci normally not found in any single academic department. The CDS programs distinguish themselves from departments in that they do not serve as the tenure home of faculty. Rather, they draw upon faculty from across the college and the university, and, as a result, each of these units benefits from multiple disciplinary perspectives. The interdisciplinary nature of these programs is their common unifying principle. Their strengths may be found in their inclusiveness.
Biological and PreMedical Illustration
Lynn Clark, Chair
Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics
Dianne Bystrom, Director
Center for American Intercultural Studies
Eugenio Matibag, Director
African and African American Studies
R. Tunde Adeleke, DirectorAmerican Indian Studies
Sidner Larson, DirectorAsian American Studies
Eugenio Matibag, DirectorU.S. Latino/a Studies
Loreto Prieto, Director
Classical Studies
Peggy Mook, Chair
Communication Studies
David Vogel, Director
Criminal Justice Studies
Matt DeLisi, Coordinator
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
William Crumpton, Coordinator
International Studies
Chad Gasta, Director
Linguistics
John Levis, Chair
Technology and Social Change
Eric Abbott, Coordinator
Women’s Studies
Gloria Jones-Johnson, Director
Organizational Guidelines for Cross Disciplinary Programs in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Cross Disciplinary Studies (CDS) Programs are constellations of course offerings whose intent is to give students and faculty some topical foci normally not found in any single academic department. The CDS programs distinguish themselves from departments in that they do not serve as the tenure home of faculty. Rather, they draw upon faculty from across the college and the university, and, as a result, each of these units benefits from multiple disciplinary perspectives. The interdisciplinary nature of these programs is their common unifying principle. Their strengths may be found in their inclusiveness.
The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences has several CDS Programs. Almost all offer undergraduate majors or minors that lead to an undergraduate baccalaureate academic degree. Some also offer graduate-level minors. These programs can be divided into two groups:
- There are four ethnic studies cross-disciplinary studies programs housed in the Center for American Intercultural Studies (CAIS). These programs are: African and African American Studies, American Indian Studies, U.S. Latino/a Studies, and, Asian American Studies. Along with a fifth CDS Program, Women’s Studies, these programs are unique among the CDS offering in that they have core budgeted faculty, that is, faculty who have joint appointments both in a tenure-home department and in the program. Consequently, the organizational guidelines of the five programs listed above include additional responsibilities, as specified in the LAS governance documents.
- The remaining programs do not have a core budgeted faculty, rather their faculty are wholly budgeted in their tenure-home departments.
Each CDS program has a Program Chair (or Director – in the case of core-budgeted program and hereafter referred to as Chair) who, in conjunction with a Faculty Steering Committee, is accountable for providing vision and direction for the program. He/she convenes and chairs meetings of the Faculty Steering Committee. Chairs are appointed for three-year (renewable) terms and serve at the pleasure of the Dean. In addition to providing leadership, the Chair is responsible for submitting an annual report to the college office no later than May 15. A template is provided for the annual report which contains a summary of the number of students being served (majors, minors and total Student Credit Hours), curricular plans, student recognitions and outreach activities, programmatic highlights and areas of concern.
Each CDS Program is governed by a Faculty Steering Committee that is appointed by the Dean with input from the Program Chair. The Faculty Steering Committee generally consists of 4 – 7 individuals, predominantly LAS faculty, representing a range of disciplines and departments. The role of the Faculty Steering Committee is to provide programmatic oversight and curricular supervision. The Faculty Steering Committee, working with the Program Chair, is responsible for developing curricula and making sure that classes are staffed and scheduled. A program’s steering committee is required to meet at least once each semester.
The Program Chairs participate in a CDS Council convened by the Dean or his/her designee. The purpose of the Council is for the college office and program chairs to share information on curricular development, as well as to discuss matters unique to these types of academic programs.
The cross-disciplinary programs are essential to the educational mission of the College and play a key role in its strategic plans. The Dean works closely with the Chairs and participating faculty in order to develop program course offerings and to assure academic excellence
August 26, 2010
