DEVELOPING STORY: UMCP Asian American Student Union Sends Memo to Provost Rice for AAST Major; AAST Responds in Full Support

On Friday, March 11, 2022, UMCP’s Asian American Student Union (AASU) sent a memo to Senior Vice President and Provost Rice to establish a Bachelor of Arts in Asian American Studies.

AASU recently released a petition in support of an AAST major, receiving 145 signatures along with testimonies as to the impact the Asian American Studies Program (AAST) has had on their identity, career, and future.

In the memo, AASU highlights that AAST currently has a teaching team of two part-time tenure-track faculty (with primary appointments in other units), one professional track faculty, and two adjunct faculty. Thus, there is a disparity in programmatic support for AAST and calls for the hiring of more faculty as essential. AASU listed a set of recommendations in order to expand AAST into a major-granting department:

  • Reorganize the Asian American Studies program into an academic department within either the College of Arts and Humanities or the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences after consulting with the faculty and administrative officers of the respective colleges;

  • Cluster hire 5 tenured/tenure-track faculty members on 100% full time appointments who home unit is the new Asian American Studies department;

  • Approve a 30-credit Bachelor of Arts in Asian American Studies

Four days later (March 15, 2022), AAST Director, Dr. Julie Park, sent Provost Rice a letter of support in response to AASU’s memo, agreeing that the hiring of additional faculty is required to establish and support an AAST major. The letter was signed by AAST core faculty, adjunct faculty, staff, the AAST Advisory Committee, affiliate faculty, as well as AAST donors.

Provost Rice immediately responded to the letters expressing wholehearted agreement about the importance of Asian American Studies in the curriculum at UMD, stating that the request is also consistent with the University’s strategic plan’s emphasis on cultivating diversity, equity, and inclusion on campus and in our broader society.

AASU students and AAST faculty and staff plan on meeting with the Provost to begin the conversation on developing a proposal for a major in Asian American Studies after Spring Break.

 
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