"I think we get out of this process a sense of what is going on here, which is absolutely essential if Brown is to remain a premier intellectual institution," says the associate provost for faculty affairs.
When Newell Stultz was a college student in the early 1950s, there weren't any computer science courses: Computers as we know them did not exist. But the personal computer now on his desk - and everyone else's - illustrates the need for such study in higher education.
Identifying change in society and how that change is reflected in academia is the concept driving a new system of department reviews begun at Brown this year, said Stultz, associate provost for faculty affairs.
Instead of reviewing academic departments individually, as has been done in the past, departments of related subject matter are being reviewed in clusters. By getting a broad perspective of related fields, Stultz said, the University may be able to identify what's on the horizon in interdisciplinary studies.
The computer science department, for example, was formed by drawing upon faculty from both engineering and applied mathematics.
"The intellectual terrain changes in some respects," said Stultz, "and Brown has to somehow keep up with that."
The reviews are being performed by people from other colleges and universities who are leaders in their fields, a practice that also was followed in the past. These teams, however, have expanded in size from a handful of people to more than 15.
Two cluster reviews - language departments, and brain, behavioral and computer sciences - have taken place this academic year. Two more clusters are scheduled: physical sciences, and the Department of Theatre, Speech and Dance, Rites and Reason, and Afro-American studies.
At a pace of about four cluster reviews each year, it is expected that every department will be reviewed every five years. The reviews are expected cost the University about $65,000 a year, said Stultz.
Unlike the previous system of reviews, departments must prepare for the new reviews by producing binders of information about their faculty and programs. The reviewers evaluate the department by reading the information, talking to faculty, attending classes and speaking with students concentrating in the subjects.
Later, the reports are shared with the administration and departments for planning purposes. The new system of reviews may also provide valuable information toward advancing the University's goal of strengthening the graduate school, said Stultz.
In addition, the administration has established an Academic Priority Subcommittee made up of eight faculty members to review the reports. Those members will serve three-year terms and assist the administration first in developing guidelines for the departments based on the reviews.
The new system is particularly appropriate at Brown because much of the University's strength is its interdisciplinary collaboration, according to Kathryn T. Spoehr, vice provost and dean of the faculty.
The cluster reviews are expected to "capture the rich interdisciplinary nature of our research," she said. Interdisciplinary connections are evident in the many faculty members who have appointments in several departments, Spoehr added.
Some faculty members have expressed apprehension about the new process, fearing that it will shrink some departments, said Stultz. But as one department grows, it is natural that another may shrink, he said. He cited the creation of the Department of Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences, which grew from psychology faculty and resulted in the latter department getting smaller.
Apprehension is a natural reaction to any change, said Spoehr. But faculty members who already have participated in departmental reviews have responded positively to their interactions with the reviewers, she said.
According to Stultz, the new reviews are an effort aimed at quality control. "I think we get out of this process a sense of what is going on here, which is absolutely essential if Brown is to remain a premier intellectual institution."
As a professor of political science, Stultz witnessed departmental change firsthand: When he began teaching at Brown, the study of international relations was not a separate concentration as it is now.
But as much as things change, they also stay the same. Although several new departments have been established at Brown over the past century, Stultz could not name any department that has gone by the wayside.
"These are all kinds of intellectual cells dividing," said Stultz.