An open letter to the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Executive Committee

On Nov. 14, the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Executive Committee voted in favor of a moratorium on all admissions to the Social Science Consortium co-discipline. This action is unprecedented both in scope and timing and was brought to the Committee without due process.

Still more lamentable, this vote was held having neither informed nor consulted the vast majority of those it affects, including, notably, the students.

To the best of our knowledge, the Executive Committee does not have a history of putting admission freezes on departments in this manner. Moreover, we see nothing in the Committee's bylaws to suggest it has the authority to impose an ad hoc moratorium on a graduate program.  We, therefore, request that the Committee state wherefrom this power is derived and by what guidelines the decision is made.

We furthermore request that such guidelines be amended to the Committee's bylaws to prevent any further ad hoc actions against graduate programs without due process.

We, the students, being in a more fitting position than the Committee to make such judgments, stand in total confidence of our professors, their competence, and their work for this program.  As such, we consider any encroachment on their ability to proceed with the program and teach within it nothing less than an encroachment on our ability to further our education.

We appreciate the work that has been put into the Social Science Consortium and look forward to its growth. In this light, we question both the judgment of the Executive Committee in retarding the development of our program and its authority to do so.

The actions taken by the Executive Committee, by intent or neglect, have been detrimental to students, current and prospective, as well as to the alumni of our university. In addition to the disruptions already caused to incoming students and those that will inevitably arise if this moratorium is not lifted, the decision of the Committee and, indeed, the very way it has gone about making this decision are detrimental to the reputation of our doctoral program, the college, and perhaps the university itself.

Ameliorating these ill effects must begin with the Committee rescinding the admission moratorium until the Executive Committee adequately addresses the concerns and convictions of the Social Science Consortium student body.

In addition to not having been informed or consulted prior to the meeting on Nov. 14, we have been denied access to such basic information as meeting minutes and agendas. Because of this utter lack of consideration for the students prior to, during, and since the actions of the Committee, we request that the members of the I.Ph.D. Executive Committee meet with us to address our concerns.

The meeting has been scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. in Royall Hall, room 409.

We are looking forward to meeting with the Committee on Dec. 4.

Yours Sincerely,

Concerned Students of the Social

Science Consortium Program