Last semester as an English major, I often found myself wondering what I was doing on a Thursday afternoon sitting in Professional Development. The course is clearly geared towards those students pursuing the Communication major.
So far, I’ve had to write three papers and sit through interviews and panel discussions, and while they may be nice for someone who wants to pursue a career in radio broadcasting, journalism, or public relations, those 75 minutes do nothing for me.
By now, most everyone is aware that the English and Communication departments are splitting in the 2007-2008 Academic Year. There has been much criticism about the split, namely from ECOM majors, because they feel that the program was just fine the way it was.
However, I feel that the split doesn’t affect anyone in a negative way. For one thing, the English majors will be able to focus more on literature intensive courses that will better prepare them following graduation, especially those students who are seeking a concentration in Secondary Education and who need these classes to adequately prepare them for their intended profession.
The new Undergraduate Catalog will be released in 2007-2008. At that time the split will fully go into affect, and yet students will still have the option of following the program under which they came in, or the new system.
This means a student can be: an English major, a Communication major, an English/Communication double major, or even choose the option of being an English major with a Communication minor, or visa versa.
Before coming to Cabrini, I had never heard of another school that had one joint English and Communication department, and the fact is nationally most undergraduates choose to major in one or the other.
The new arrangement will honor the distinct disciplinary identities of each department and give all majors the chance to grow and mature under the department that will help them more significantly in the long run.
Most Communication majors don’t want to sit through Survey of Brit Lit I, and most English majors don’t want to sit through Professional Development. The split will be beneficial to each new major, and to suggest that the division will tarnish the reputation of Cabrini College is absurd.
