The Academic Senate Undergraduate Council’s decision to suspend admissions to the international development studies major is a necessary step toward reforming a vaguely defined and understaffed department.
The revisions that the major will see in the next year will ensure that students receive adequate faculty advising and a suitable curriculum.
While inconvenient for those who were hoping to enter the major in the next year, the suspension will allow ample time for current faculty to enact changes that will optimize the curriculum and strengthen the department, which in turn will encourage more faculty participation.
Students who have already been taking coursework to prepare for the major will still be able to join. And it will be worth the wait; they will enter a more polished and standardized program.
The Council’s decision was made with students’ interests in mind ““ the major’s recurring problems are symptomatic of a larger disorganization, and it’s important for these problems to be corrected.
A temporary suspension is preferable to allowing a struggling department to admit new students when it can’t take care of those already enrolled.
Unsigned editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily Bruin Editorial Board.