Students taking Portuguese courses this year claim the faculty and administration misled them about the prospects of a Language Study Abroad or a Foreign Study Program in Fall 2005. Twelve students attended an informational session on travelling to Brazil with the department, but were later told the program would not take place. Many of the students had enrolled in Portuguese classes and were charting their academic paths upon hearing the news.
"I'm hurt that it's not happening and let down because of the miscommunication," said Kate Eklin '08, who planned to participate in the program. "Some people did feel almost tricked by it."
Three years after its inception, the low five-person enrollment for the Fall 2004 trip spurred the Committee on Off-Campus Activities to return the foreign study to a biannual occurrence.
However, the Off-Campus Programs website and brochures made no note of the fact that the program had been cancelled and the information session led by Professor Rodolfo Franconi made students excited, Eklin said.
Franconi said he never told students the program would take place, according to Dean of Humanities Lenore Grenoble, but students claim he never specified that it would not. Franconi, leading the Spanish FSP in Uruguay this term, was unavailable for comment.
"I've gotten totally different stories from the students and the faculty," Grenoble said. "What's frustrating is I can't tell what really happened. Somewhere the miscommunication ratcheted up people's expectations. That's why there are bad feelings. There should have been a very clear message."
The poor communication between faculty, students and administrators has led to finger-pointing and mistrust.
"The process reflects a problem within the university -- an inability of students to communicate with their deans, and misinformation at all levels," Eklin said. "That's really not what I thought Dartmouth was. It's been very, very frustrating."
Originally the Enrollment Committee raised concern over the mere five students planning to attend the Fall 2004 program, and COCA agreed to cancel the trip.
Professor Pierce Armstrong, who ended up leading the Portuguese program, said the Spanish and Portuguese Department faculty appealed. They were upheld on the grounds that it was too late to make a decision.
However, when the program was reauthorized, the message stated that the Fall 2005 program would not run after the Fall 2004 one. But this understanding was not well advertised.
"We never received any formal documentation explaining that linked decision," Armstrong said.
There were also some hopes that the fate of the 2005 program would depend on the current number of students wanting to attend and not the low enrollment of the last fall, according to Armstrong.
But despite the fact that record numbers of students enrolled in pre-requisite courses this year and 12 students committed to participating, no plans are in place to reinstate the program's annual offering.
Grenoble said she feels students are portraying her as the bad guy, but that she was the one who originally secured the three-year trial.
"I had gone out on a limb saying, 'this program is going to thrive,' and then it went down to five students," she said. "I didn't have a leg to stand on."
She added that "other things at the moment look more compelling," referring to off-campus programs with 20-person wait lists, enough to run second offerings.
Now that the Brazil program won't be offered until 2006, Eklin and her peers worry about being able to complete their requirements. The College offers only six Portuguese classes, and a student like Eklin, majoring in Romance Languages with a concentration in Portuguese, needs to take all six to complete the major -- a feat that will require complicated D-Plan juggling.
"I don't know if I can do this," Eklin said. "The Romance Language major doesn't work if the Portuguese Department doesn't function."
Cara Foster '07 had similar concerns. She said she probably won't complete her minor now that she can't count FSP courses toward it.
Grenoble suggested students attend a summer program with the University of Iowa instead; and that students on Financial Aid, unable to attend because of the program's $5,000 cost, look into combining internships and independent studies.
"It's not ideal," she said. "It's sort of a brutal reality."
