A motivated group of UVA students is attempting to do something that has never been done at Mr. Jefferson’s university—implement the first student-proposed major. For the past year, members of the student-run Global Development Organization have been lobbying the administration for the creation of a new global development major. While the interested students recognize the process of proposing, funding and establishing a new major is difficult, they argue such a major would benefit the University in its quest to compete with peer institutions, such as the University of California-Berkley, that offer the interdisciplinary major.
 "At the beginning of the process, we knew it would be a hard road, but one thing that has become more of a challenge than we initially anticipated was the funding issue," says Kendall Wallace, a junior leading the effort for a new "global development" major. |
"Global development is a growing field of not only national but international importance," says junior Kendall Wallace, history major and chair of the committee proposing the new major. "To really go out and succeed in that field, it’s necessary to have some sort of educational background in it. Right now, the University has no avenue to pursue rigorous global development studies."
Though members of the major proposal committee have met with senior administrators in the University’s College of Arts and Sciences to discuss the issues facing the creation of a new major, the students have done almost all of the grunt work and development-related research themselves. Still, as UVA curriculum is the faculty’s responsibility, students will have to work extensively with faculty to rouse support, according to Milton Adams, vice provost for academic programs.
Although some high-profile faculty members support this program, Wallace says, students have yet to find a faculty member who would be willing to take ownership of the major and serve as its founding director. Many interested faculty have told students this career move could be risky without a generous endowment in place to fully fund the major from the start.
"It comes down to one check or several," says Wallace, noting that the major committee was only recently allowed to distribute a document outlining the student initiative to key University fundraisers. "At the beginning of the process, we knew it would be a hard road, but one thing that has become more of a challenge than we initially anticipated was the funding issue."
No new funding, however, would be required if the major makes use of existing courses and faculty. Still, if new faculty were to be hired and new office space found, the costs of the program could be quite substantial, says Adams, adding up to millions of dollars. No matter the financial situation, there is still plenty of administrative work to do be done if the program is to come to fruition.
"Creating a new degree—that is, a B.A. in Global Development Studies, GDS—would require a time-consuming process originating with a faculty in a School or the College, including approvals by the School faculty, the Faculty Senate, the Provost, Board of Visitors and the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia," says Adams. "That would likely take one to two years."
Long-term student support, Wallace argues, will keep this proposal active in the mind of administrators until the funds are present to implement the major. Some younger members on the committee even have their sights set on possibly earning the major in their time at the University.
"The fact that I have put so much time into this and really understand what it is about, makes me really excited about it," says freshman Anna Conn, a committee member. "Now that I’ve invested so much in it, I would really like to see it out."
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