Downsizing Hits Home

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Greg O'Brien, Associate Professor (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/

Abstract: On a gloomy October day in 1995, the chair of the University of Wyoming's history department summoned all graduate students in the department to a meeting. He announced that the doctoral program no longer existed. To say that we were shocked would be an understatement. Graduate students had no warning of this decision; had we known this was coming, some of us would have attempted to transfer before the semester began. Twelve PhD students faced a tough choice—either finish the requirements under a "grandfather" clause and risk losing funding, or leave the school. Despite reassurances that all assistance possible would be given to those of us who wished to transfer to another university, the department refused to pay even for postage on letters of inquiry to other schools. Such a contradiction between words and actions characterized the entire affair.

Additional Information

Publication
Perspectives on History (December 1997) 35(8):35-37.
Language: English
Date: 1997
Keywords
Downsizing, History programs, Higher education, Faculty, Graduate students, Working conditions

Email this document to