WVU cutting 32 majors, all foreign languages

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:32 majors are under review. They won’t all get cut.

As another post stated, some will be merged, some will remain the same but with less faculty, some will remain the same and be re-evaluated in the future, and some will be cut.

Many other universities have been doing the same for budget reasons and due to less interest in some majors. It is what it is, they need to keep up with the times. I think it’s a good thing, WV is a poor state. Students should not be going into debt majoring in areas that will not make them enough to pay back.

Yeah, poor kids don't deserve a rich array of classes, that's true. Limit them, because they don't need any of that fancy stuff.

I am from WV and went to a non-flagship state college.

I think they do a huge disservice pushing History and Lit majors, and I am both. I was valedictorian of my college and it worked out for me. But for most of my colleagues, it didn’t.

One works at the Greenbriar, so that is OK. A few others went to grad school and do well. A few are dead of opioid ODs. The others work in the same mines, factories, or Walmarts they would have anyway.

It’s not wrong to limit the availability of posh majors for non-posh people.

Yes because a life of a mind is only something for rich people. And those history and lit classes definitely lead to opioid addiction if you are poor and don't know how to handle them.

PP here. Your privilege is showing. College is expensive and people need it to lead to opportunities. History and Lit majors need to go to grad school to do much of anything. A poor person who is a B student at a state school is taking debt for no advantage.

The mid-low end of my majors aren’t living a “life of the mind.” They are working at gas stations and Walmart, with nothing to show for it.

Just because you are a poor person going for a practical major in business doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have access to any humanities classes including foreign languages. What a thing to imply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:32 majors are under review. They won’t all get cut.

As another post stated, some will be merged, some will remain the same but with less faculty, some will remain the same and be re-evaluated in the future, and some will be cut.

Many other universities have been doing the same for budget reasons and due to less interest in some majors. It is what it is, they need to keep up with the times. I think it’s a good thing, WV is a poor state. Students should not be going into debt majoring in areas that will not make them enough to pay back.

Yeah, poor kids don't deserve a rich array of classes, that's true. Limit them, because they don't need any of that fancy stuff.

I am from WV and went to a non-flagship state college.

I think they do a huge disservice pushing History and Lit majors, and I am both. I was valedictorian of my college and it worked out for me. But for most of my colleagues, it didn’t.

One works at the Greenbriar, so that is OK. A few others went to grad school and do well. A few are dead of opioid ODs. The others work in the same mines, factories, or Walmarts they would have anyway.

It’s not wrong to limit the availability of posh majors for non-posh people.

Yes because a life of a mind is only something for rich people. And those history and lit classes definitely lead to opioid addiction if you are poor and don't know how to handle them.

PP here. Your privilege is showing. College is expensive and people need it to lead to opportunities. History and Lit majors need to go to grad school to do much of anything. A poor person who is a B student at a state school is taking debt for no advantage.

The mid-low end of my majors aren’t living a “life of the mind.” They are working at gas stations and Walmart, with nothing to show for it.

Just because you are a poor person going for a practical major in business doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have access to any humanities classes including foreign languages. What a thing to imply.

+1
These are the usual suspects who insist STEM degrees are the only ones worth getting. How incredibly shortsighted and limited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is not just WVU that has been dropping language programs. This has been going on since at least the great recession. My understanding is that fewer students are taking language in HS (and the vast majority of those kids are taking Spanish) and fewer are taking it at the university level. There is just not much demand. People argue that folks need to know these languages for foreign service and military intelligence, but as someone who has experience in both of these areas, the foreign service and the military have their own language training programs. There is of course a real need for spanish speakers in many parts of the country for in health, policing, education type jobs, but, there is really no demand for other languages. My guess is that universities are also having trouble finding qualified professors for these programs.

I have a friend who majored in German who said it was the biggest mistake of their life. The UN only needs so many translators, and you can’t even get a job teaching it in high school, because no HS offers German.

[Anonymous]

All of a sudden everybody is an expert on WVU. Remember the good ol’ days when you were expected to know something about a topic before you started opining about it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not just WVU that has been dropping language programs. This has been going on since at least the great recession. My understanding is that fewer students are taking language in HS (and the vast majority of those kids are taking Spanish) and fewer are taking it at the university level. There is just not much demand. People argue that folks need to know these languages for foreign service and military intelligence, but as someone who has experience in both of these areas, the foreign service and the military have their own language training programs. There is of course a real need for spanish speakers in many parts of the country for in health, policing, education type jobs, but, there is really no demand for other languages. My guess is that universities are also having trouble finding qualified professors for these programs.

I work in the IC and find your post to be completely misleading/wrong. There is *ALWAYS* a demand for language students, particularly those that are mission-critical: Russian, Chinese, Arabic, etc. And while the federal government does indeed have their own language training programs, a candidate is far more desirable if they come in already speaking the language at some level.

https://www.dlnseo.org/NSEP
https://www.cia.gov/careers/language-opportunities/

But be honest places like these value native or heritage speakers, not language majors. They test for language ability, and it's hard to score high on the test unless you are a native or heritage speaker or have spent years in country. Four years of college language study doesn't cut it.

If you spent a year abroad studying in the language you could get fluent enough. I know because I studied abroad and there were a couple kids in my program who went on into these sorts of career paths based on the fluency they achieved.

Also with immigration limits they're not always going to find native or heritage speakers.

They will only hire US citizens for clearance jobs, so any non-citizen will not be considered. As it should be.

With immigration limits that means there will not be as many bilingual citizen-children growing up as native or heritage speakers available, so PP's implication that those agencies would only be hiring native or heritage speakers is flawed.

lol at the idea we have “immigration limits”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really sad to see a state flagship in this much trouble.

West Virginia boasts nearly a million residents who do not have access to clean drinking water. WV has huge problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not just WVU that has been dropping language programs. This has been going on since at least the great recession. My understanding is that fewer students are taking language in HS (and the vast majority of those kids are taking Spanish) and fewer are taking it at the university level. There is just not much demand. People argue that folks need to know these languages for foreign service and military intelligence, but as someone who has experience in both of these areas, the foreign service and the military have their own language training programs. There is of course a real need for spanish speakers in many parts of the country for in health, policing, education type jobs, but, there is really no demand for other languages. My guess is that universities are also having trouble finding qualified professors for these programs.

I have a friend who majored in German who said it was the biggest mistake of their life. The UN only needs so many translators, and you can’t even get a job teaching it in high school, because no HS offers German.

Well, that is an indictment of your friend’s lack of creativity and originality rather than a knock on being a German major.

You can do just as much, if not more, with a foreign language degree as any other liberal arts degree. It’s like saying majoring in history is a mistake because there are only so many historian jobs out there.

Also, WVU’s Department of World Languages makes prominently clear on its website that many of their students “wisely combine their degree with another major or minor” and goes on to explain how easy that can be. It’s not like they are trying to steer their students to what you would consider to be a useless major.

[Anonymous]

Question for all of up in arms about the foreign language cuts-

Are you/were you planning on having your kid go to WVU for this major?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not just WVU that has been dropping language programs. This has been going on since at least the great recession. My understanding is that fewer students are taking language in HS (and the vast majority of those kids are taking Spanish) and fewer are taking it at the university level. There is just not much demand. People argue that folks need to know these languages for foreign service and military intelligence, but as someone who has experience in both of these areas, the foreign service and the military have their own language training programs. There is of course a real need for spanish speakers in many parts of the country for in health, policing, education type jobs, but, there is really no demand for other languages. My guess is that universities are also having trouble finding qualified professors for these programs.

I have a friend who majored in German who said it was the biggest mistake of their life. The UN only needs so many translators, and you can’t even get a job teaching it in high school, because no HS offers German.

Well, that is an indictment of your friend’s lack of creativity and originality rather than a knock on being a German major.

You can do just as much, if not more, with a foreign language degree as any other liberal arts degree. It’s like saying majoring in history is a mistake because there are only so many historian jobs out there.

Also, WVU’s Department of World Languages makes prominently clear on its website that many of their students “wisely combine their degree with another major or minor” and goes on to explain how easy that can be. It’s not like they are trying to steer their students to what you would consider to be a useless major.

Not that PP but the fact that you can do "something else" with your foreign language degree is a terrible argument for majoring in foreign language. Go major in the "something else" and take your foreign language classes on the side, if you must. (That's what I did.) Same thing with history, for that matter. Indeed there is even less reason to major in history than foreign languages because you can easily learn as much history as you want to know without taking a single college class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not just WVU that has been dropping language programs. This has been going on since at least the great recession. My understanding is that fewer students are taking language in HS (and the vast majority of those kids are taking Spanish) and fewer are taking it at the university level. There is just not much demand. People argue that folks need to know these languages for foreign service and military intelligence, but as someone who has experience in both of these areas, the foreign service and the military have their own language training programs. There is of course a real need for spanish speakers in many parts of the country for in health, policing, education type jobs, but, there is really no demand for other languages. My guess is that universities are also having trouble finding qualified professors for these programs.

I have a friend who majored in German who said it was the biggest mistake of their life. The UN only needs so many translators, and you can’t even get a job teaching it in high school, because no HS offers German.

Well, that is an indictment of your friend’s lack of creativity and originality rather than a knock on being a German major.

You can do just as much, if not more, with a foreign language degree as any other liberal arts degree. It’s like saying majoring in history is a mistake because there are only so many historian jobs out there.

Also, WVU’s Department of World Languages makes prominently clear on its website that many of their students “wisely combine their degree with another major or minor” and goes on to explain how easy that can be. It’s not like they are trying to steer their students to what you would consider to be a useless major.

Not that PP but the fact that you can do "something else" with your foreign language degree is a terrible argument for majoring in foreign language. Go major in the "something else" and take your foreign language classes on the side, if you must. (That's what I did.) Same thing with history, for that matter. Indeed there is even less reason to major in history than foreign languages because you can easily learn as much history as you want to know without taking a single college class.

I majored in Spanish, studied abroad my junior year, won a Fulbright, went to law school, leveraged my Spanish degree and Fulbright/international experience (which I never would have had without being a Spanish major) into becoming an international lawyer, made millions, retired early, and in my retirement travel frequently to Spanish-speaking countries for leisure and adventure. Before I retired I could compete for assignments that others could not, and now that I am not working I can go deeper into places where others cannot and communicate with millions of people with whom others cannot, all because of my foreign language focus in college.

Being a foreign language major has served me very well both professionally and professionally. No regrets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not just WVU that has been dropping language programs. This has been going on since at least the great recession. My understanding is that fewer students are taking language in HS (and the vast majority of those kids are taking Spanish) and fewer are taking it at the university level. There is just not much demand. People argue that folks need to know these languages for foreign service and military intelligence, but as someone who has experience in both of these areas, the foreign service and the military have their own language training programs. There is of course a real need for spanish speakers in many parts of the country for in health, policing, education type jobs, but, there is really no demand for other languages. My guess is that universities are also having trouble finding qualified professors for these programs.

I have a friend who majored in German who said it was the biggest mistake of their life. The UN only needs so many translators, and you can’t even get a job teaching it in high school, because no HS offers German.

Well, that is an indictment of your friend’s lack of creativity and originality rather than a knock on being a German major.

You can do just as much, if not more, with a foreign language degree as any other liberal arts degree. It’s like saying majoring in history is a mistake because there are only so many historian jobs out there.

Also, WVU’s Department of World Languages makes prominently clear on its website that many of their students “wisely combine their degree with another major or minor” and goes on to explain how easy that can be. It’s not like they are trying to steer their students to what you would consider to be a useless major.

Not that PP but the fact that you can do "something else" with your foreign language degree is a terrible argument for majoring in foreign language. Go major in the "something else" and take your foreign language classes on the side, if you must. (That's what I did.) Same thing with history, for that matter. Indeed there is even less reason to major in history than foreign languages because you can easily learn as much history as you want to know without taking a single college class.

I don't think you understand the point of any liberal arts degree. 99% of history majors do not become historians

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not just WVU that has been dropping language programs. This has been going on since at least the great recession. My understanding is that fewer students are taking language in HS (and the vast majority of those kids are taking Spanish) and fewer are taking it at the university level. There is just not much demand. People argue that folks need to know these languages for foreign service and military intelligence, but as someone who has experience in both of these areas, the foreign service and the military have their own language training programs. There is of course a real need for spanish speakers in many parts of the country for in health, policing, education type jobs, but, there is really no demand for other languages. My guess is that universities are also having trouble finding qualified professors for these programs.

I have a friend who majored in German who said it was the biggest mistake of their life. The UN only needs so many translators, and you can’t even get a job teaching it in high school, because no HS offers German.

Well, that is an indictment of your friend’s lack of creativity and originality rather than a knock on being a German major.

You can do just as much, if not more, with a foreign language degree as any other liberal arts degree. It’s like saying majoring in history is a mistake because there are only so many historian jobs out there.

Also, WVU’s Department of World Languages makes prominently clear on its website that many of their students “wisely combine their degree with another major or minor” and goes on to explain how easy that can be. It’s not like they are trying to steer their students to what you would consider to be a useless major.

Not that PP but the fact that you can do "something else" with your foreign language degree is a terrible argument for majoring in foreign language. Go major in the "something else" and take your foreign language classes on the side, if you must. (That's what I did.) Same thing with history, for that matter. Indeed there is even less reason to major in history than foreign languages because you can easily learn as much history as you want to know without taking a single college class.

I majored in Spanish, studied abroad my junior year, won a Fulbright, went to law school, leveraged my Spanish degree and Fulbright/international experience (which I never would have had without being a Spanish major) into becoming an international lawyer, made millions, retired early, and in my retirement travel frequently to Spanish-speaking countries for leisure and adventure. Before I retired I could compete for assignments that others could not, and now that I am not working I can go deeper into places where others cannot and communicate with millions of people with whom others cannot, all because of my foreign language focus in college.

Being a foreign language major has served me very well both professionally and professionally. No regrets.

DP. that's because you went to law school after getting an undergrad in Spanish. Had you not gone to law school, and got a high paying job with just an undergrad, then you'd have an argument. One could major in something completely obscure, still go to law school and get a high paying job.

Not every undergrad who majors in foreign language will or have the chops to go to law school.

Why do seemingly intelligent people not understand this logic.

-signed not a lawyer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not just WVU that has been dropping language programs. This has been going on since at least the great recession. My understanding is that fewer students are taking language in HS (and the vast majority of those kids are taking Spanish) and fewer are taking it at the university level. There is just not much demand. People argue that folks need to know these languages for foreign service and military intelligence, but as someone who has experience in both of these areas, the foreign service and the military have their own language training programs. There is of course a real need for spanish speakers in many parts of the country for in health, policing, education type jobs, but, there is really no demand for other languages. My guess is that universities are also having trouble finding qualified professors for these programs.

I have a friend who majored in German who said it was the biggest mistake of their life. The UN only needs so many translators, and you can’t even get a job teaching it in high school, because no HS offers German.

Well, that is an indictment of your friend’s lack of creativity and originality rather than a knock on being a German major.

You can do just as much, if not more, with a foreign language degree as any other liberal arts degree. It’s like saying majoring in history is a mistake because there are only so many historian jobs out there.

Also, WVU’s Department of World Languages makes prominently clear on its website that many of their students “wisely combine their degree with another major or minor” and goes on to explain how easy that can be. It’s not like they are trying to steer their students to what you would consider to be a useless major.

Not that PP but the fact that you can do "something else" with your foreign language degree is a terrible argument for majoring in foreign language. Go major in the "something else" and take your foreign language classes on the side, if you must. (That's what I did.) Same thing with history, for that matter. Indeed there is even less reason to major in history than foreign languages because you can easily learn as much history as you want to know without taking a single college class.

I don't think you understand the point of any liberal arts degree. 99% of history majors do not become historians

How many history majors go on to get masters in something else? Or, if they don't, how many of them get a high paying job with just an undergrad degree in History?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not just WVU that has been dropping language programs. This has been going on since at least the great recession. My understanding is that fewer students are taking language in HS (and the vast majority of those kids are taking Spanish) and fewer are taking it at the university level. There is just not much demand. People argue that folks need to know these languages for foreign service and military intelligence, but as someone who has experience in both of these areas, the foreign service and the military have their own language training programs. There is of course a real need for spanish speakers in many parts of the country for in health, policing, education type jobs, but, there is really no demand for other languages. My guess is that universities are also having trouble finding qualified professors for these programs.

I have a friend who majored in German who said it was the biggest mistake of their life. The UN only needs so many translators, and you can’t even get a job teaching it in high school, because no HS offers German.

Well, that is an indictment of your friend’s lack of creativity and originality rather than a knock on being a German major.

You can do just as much, if not more, with a foreign language degree as any other liberal arts degree. It’s like saying majoring in history is a mistake because there are only so many historian jobs out there.

Also, WVU’s Department of World Languages makes prominently clear on its website that many of their students “wisely combine their degree with another major or minor” and goes on to explain how easy that can be. It’s not like they are trying to steer their students to what you would consider to be a useless major.

Not that PP but the fact that you can do "something else" with your foreign language degree is a terrible argument for majoring in foreign language. Go major in the "something else" and take your foreign language classes on the side, if you must. (That's what I did.) Same thing with history, for that matter. Indeed there is even less reason to major in history than foreign languages because you can easily learn as much history as you want to know without taking a single college class.

I majored in Spanish, studied abroad my junior year, won a Fulbright, went to law school, leveraged my Spanish degree and Fulbright/international experience (which I never would have had without being a Spanish major) into becoming an international lawyer, made millions, retired early, and in my retirement travel frequently to Spanish-speaking countries for leisure and adventure. Before I retired I could compete for assignments that others could not, and now that I am not working I can go deeper into places where others cannot and communicate with millions of people with whom others cannot, all because of my foreign language focus in college.

Being a foreign language major has served me very well both professionally and professionally. No regrets.

Did you need to major in Spanish to go to law school? No. Is majoring in Spanish or any other foreign language the best preparation for law school? No.

[Anonymous]

Some people go to a gym to lose weight, some to gain muscle, some to meet people, etc.

Some people go to college to learn to think, some go to learn a trade, some go to party, etc. The people who can’t grasp things like this probably went to learn a trade or to party.