The Language Program Should not be Cut
The LAIS department is attempting to cut all languages except Spanish. This is unfair to those of us who have already taken Spanish and wish to learn more languages and to people who just really want to learn a new language. Cutting the program also leaves multiple faculty jobless starting December 17th. Engineering is such a global and international profession that we should be given access to language programs in order to help us become more successful. Language skills are highly marketable in the job market, and it is unfair to rob students of the opportunity to expand our horizons.
Keturah Baxter
shared this idea
USG worked hard last year with the LAIS language department to stop certain language classes from being cut. Unfortunately there was a lack of enrollment for some of these classes and the funding moved elsewhere in the LAIS department.
If you feel that the language program should be added to in the future, and not cut, please make a new post and get people to vote for it. USG will fight for you if you show there is a need.
-USG
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Daniel Langemann
commented
Arabic must be offered if it isn't already! This is one of the most important languages in engineering, as many students and engineering companies are from the Middle East. I hoped when transferring to Mines that I could take at least one course in Arabic. I have already interacted with many Arabic people who are in engineering or technology (both as a student and during my travels abroad), and would not be surprised to find my Arabic skills useful as part of my professional career.
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Marcus Knox
commented
I wanted to take several language classes while here (German, Russian for starters), but as a transfer, I didn't even know we could edit our schedule the first semester here. This is a real bummer that these are on the chopping block for no apparent reason. Lastly, given this schools' international status, and large number of international students; we couldn't offer Chinese & Arabic? Disappointing.
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Matthew McFadden
commented
I came out of high school having taken Spanish all the years I was there. I was extremely excited to be able to participate in a new language, particularly French, when I came to this school. I never had the chance to do so my freshman and sophomore years, now that myself and numerous other undergrads have the chance to enjoy a new language it is being taken away from us. It would be most disappointing and detrimental to the LAIS department if these programs were taken away from CSM.
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Keturah Baxter
commented
How can it be due to a lack of enrollment? I have wanted to take language classes every semester, but either couldn't get in because it was full or I was waitlisted to get into the class. I was finally able to take languages last year due to having more credits, which allowed me to register earlier.
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Ryan rue
commented
From my understanding is that they are cutting the courses due to a lack of enrollment. Someone should go on trailhead and look at the total enrolled for the other languages to see if this is true.
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Yanina Likhtenshteyn
commented
While it is true that one cannot truly master a language in a few semesters of taking it, it is entirely possible to develop good conversational skills and to capably navigate in a foreign country.
It will also serve as the impetus for many students to pursue a lifelong development of their new skill, and where better to provide this impetus than while they are in college?
I think that for a school that concerns itself so heavily with preparing their students for the job market, it seems foolish to disregard foreign languages in an increasingly interconnected world. -
Duncan Flint
commented
This is ridiculous in my opinion. I understand that languages are not the primary focus of this school, but being bilingual is extremely useful in many industries! What's more, we have tons of international students here as well, and would really benefit from being able to learn their language. (Although that's a whole different story, why there's no Chinese program at this school is beyond me)