Friends of Philosophy,

We have finally been informed of our fate, though details still need clarification and negotiation.  Other events are also worth noting as they relate more or less directly to that fate.

First, our Dean of Arts and Sciences has resigned to take another position closer to her aging parents. Our Provost has also resigned, “due to personal circumstances”, and will take up a position as faculty in the School of Education. These resignations leave SUNY Potsdam with an Interim President (OIC), Provost and Dean of Arts & Sciences.  

Potsdam was also warned by Middle States that its accreditation “may be in jeopardy”, in part because of a failure to demonstrate that administrative decisions were driven by data – in Middle States language, we supplied insufficient evidence of compliance with Standard VI, “Planning, Resources and Institutional Improvement”.  

Before she left the college the Dean formally recommended that the philosophy program “be removed from provisional status once curricular work outlined in the alignment plan and a merger has been accomplished.”  The curricular revisions referred to are the creation of a Philosophy of Justice course to support the Criminal Justice program (once a regular offering, it has not been offered since the retirement of Dr. Tartaglia), and the creation of an Animal Minds course.  

She also recommended that we be merged with the Interdisciplinary Studies department and that Dr. Murphy serve as chair of the merged department (whose chair recently resigned).  In her letter to the Provost and Dr. Murphy she recommends that “Details of this merger—including but not limited to the renaming of a shared department, bylaws, and allocation of service obligations—would need to be worked out between stakeholders from both departments and should be completed by October 15th, 2022.”  These recommendations were accepted by the Provost.

We should note that we appreciate much included in the Dean’s clearly thoughtful response to a problem that was foisted upon her.  For example, she begins her missive “by acknowledging Philosophy’s long record of strong faculty/student ratios, consistently well above the average across the College, and your steady contributions to WAYs and to Pathways more generally. I also acknowledge the challenges of expanding offerings likely to attract new students with current staffing levels.”   

Similarly, the Dean “strongly recommend[s] that, when a line becomes available, campus leadership support the hybrid department in making a hiring request that could build on the strengths of all parties. For example, a feminist philosopher, a nonwestern philosopher, or a philosopher with expertise in gender, race, and sexuality, could contribute to Philosophy, Women’s & Gender Studies, INDS programming, and WAYs, expanding the diversity of the College’s offerings in valuable ways. Similarly, an investment in a philosopher with expertise in ethics would strengthen the curricula of professionally-oriented programs across the College and better prepare Potsdam’s graduates for the workplace and engagement in the civic sphere.”

We take these comments to essentially acknowledge the central points of our original argument.  We can only hope that a new leadership team will similarly recognize the strength, contributions and potential of the philosophy department, as well as the value of the liberal arts in general.

While we expect that this marks the end of our campaign to change OIC Neisser’s mind about implementing the realignment plan, it is also clear that the campaign had a positive effect on the overall outcome.  That is largely thanks to you all who supported the petition and engaged in letter-writing.  We cannot thank you enough for your support.