The change, which the College's Committee on Instruction recommended after a generally favorable external review, will not bring big changes to the program, but is "part of a process of maturing," according to program chair Israel Reyes.
"It establishes us as a permanent part of the College," Reyes said. "It doesn't mean that we automatically get more resources from the College, but it does give us a higher profile."
In a separate measure, faculty members approved rule changes designed to give more autonomy to academic programs like LALACS.
"Historically, [programs] have had a separate governance system from the departments," explained professor Susan Ackerman, a former chair of the Women and Gender Studies Program. "They haven't had clear voting rights over appointing and tenuring their own personnel."
Some of this will change under the new rules.
"It's giving interdisciplinary programs almost the status of departments," Environmental Studies Chair Andrew Friedland said.
In support of yesterday's move, Friedland said he thinks there should be more action in the future, possibly including the addition of an associate dean of interdisciplinary studies.
"We do view this as one step and there might be other steps that can or should be taken," Friedland said.
College President James Wright, who presided over the meeting, agreed with this sentiment, adding that he saw things in the new rules he thought had been resolved last year.
But a few professors stood up in front of the Alumni Hall crowd of approximately 80 to voice their concerns that the changes might not go far enough.
"The point is this is an issue which has plagued us and we have a rhetoric of support and in fact we do not support interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary programs," history professor Marysa Navarro said.
Navarro, who started with LALACS in 1993, told The Dartmouth she was "asked to resign" as program chair in 2004, so she had no comment about its new permanent status, but she thinks the College needs to create a better framework to meet specific needs of interdisciplinary programs.
Dartmouth eliminated its interdisciplinary requirement effectively with the Class of 2005, but administrators have said it is still a College priority.
When Navarro founded the program, it was known simply as LACS before adding a Latino Studies track in 1997. LALACS currently has seven declared majors and two minors. In the 2004-2005 academic year, 429 students took LALACS classes, most of which are cross-listed with other departments. LALACS professors also teach in various social science and humanities departments.
Reyes said there are no immediate plans for a LALACS foreign study program, but he is considering a partnership with the Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City or a multi-site program. Some LALACS students currently participate in a Georgetown University program in Chile.
