Long embroiled in campus politics and long under pressure for its elimination, the formerly besieged education department is now in a position unthinkable even a few years ago -- far from a focal point of criticism, it is now under the process of rejuvenation and is set to receive new College funds.
Following last year's release of an external report of the department, Dartmouth has abandoned its previous objections to the education program and decided to strengthen it instead.
"The recommendation was to rebuild the department and that's what we're going to do," Dean of the Faculty Ed Berger said.
A search committee is already under way to hire at least one new leading education scholar for the next academic year, and the College has plans to add a total of three tenure-track positions in the department.
And while the administration used to complain of the pre-professional nature of the education program, that criticism seems to have disappeared entirely.
"We're in a stronger position than we've been in for years. We've squelched the notion that we're redundant," Chair of the education department Andrew Garrod said.
Last year's report was written by an external committee made up of five respected education faculty from some of the country's top colleges and universities. Whereas the two earlier reports -- one of which was written in 1993, and the other in 1996 -- called for the education department's elimination, last year's committee both praised the program and called for its strengthening.
One major difference between the first two reports and the most recent one is that the earlier ones were compiled by non-education Dartmouth faculty who had little experience in the field.
But also at play in the external committee's positive findings were changes within the department itself.
While the education faculty had previously been criticized for internal bickering, most positions have been replaced.
And while the program's place in a liberal arts institution was previously questioned, the department has since streamlined its curriculum, devised an off-campus teaching program in the Marshall Islands and forged partnerships with area school districts.
"The external report documented what students and what other members of the department already felt," Garrod said.
"I think we were helped by the political climate with education being such an important national issue, and that we were doing a good job with a very limited number of resources."
Specifically, the external committee's report suggested that Dartmouth hire three new tenure-track professors -- one in developmental psychology, one in teacher education and one with a specialty in math and science.
Now the College seems to be following that prescription to the letter.
Still, questions remain about just how effective the new funding will be.
Although the College has committed to hiring tenure-track faculty, the department, at least in the short-term, will still only have between four and five members.
"It's very difficult to retain a first-rate department when you've only got four and a half people in it," Garrod said.
"Because you have to cover all the basics, it's hard to get two to three members of the department to specialize for real excellence."
Both times the department's dissolution was recommended, student protest kept the program alive.
Last year, the Student Assembly endorsed a unanimous resolution to maintain and expand the program. In 1996, more than 300 students gathered in Dartmouth Hall to support the department when it was at the brink of elimination.
