Sophomore social work major Kelly Broughton was one of a handful of students protesting at the opening brunch and address of Scholarship and Creativity Day April 23“We just feel (social work) is a really important major, and it is important it continues at CSB/SJU,” Broughton said.

The group, which held signs and protested silently while Scholarship and Creativity Day participants ate outside the Stephen B. Humphrey auditorium, was protesting Provost Rita Knuesel’s recommendation in March to close the social work major to applicants at the end of the spring term, 2009.

They planned the protest during the well-attended brunch in the hopes they would influence the Joint Faculty Assembly’s upcoming meeting on the provost’s recommendation, which took place Thursday.

The contents of the recommendation are restricted to the JFA according to their handbook guidelines. However, Knuesel went far enough to say she made her recommendation with the “centrality of the schools’ mission” in mind.

Knuesel said she believes the mission of the social work department is incongruent with the mission of CSB/SJU to provide a liberal arts education, among other grievances including the department’s pending re-accreditation status and the provost’s assertion that the field is better served by a master’s.

Echoing the common dissent of others within the department, protesting sophomore Stephanie Drellack, a social work major herself, said she thinks the social work major practices the very Benedictine values the school promotes and that a bachelor’s in social work is worthwhile in the field.

“There are still a lot of jobs open for (social work graduates with a) bachelor’s,” Drellack said. “This is especially true in rural areas.”

Drellack also said that receiving a BSW grants advanced standing for students who choose to go onto a social work master’s program, which is one of the department’s primary arguments.

During the JFA meeting, Associate Provost Joe Jardins presented the Provost’s recommendation. Knuesel was out of town for the meeting.

The Academic Policy and Standards Assessment Committee defended the department, saying the schools should retain the major and concentrate on stabilizing the department by adding more professors with tenure to its staff.

In the end, those at the two hour meeting said they thought more discussion was needed before making a final recommendation, and decided to hold voting until May 6.

The decision will be rendered by an electronic vote, which will then head to the presidents’ office for their evaluations.

The Board of Trustees will make the final decision sometime next fall based on the Provost’s recommendation and the assessments by the JFA and presidents.

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