Enrollment in foreign language courses have been on the decline in recent semesters. Certain foreign language majors and minors at Pace may be discontinued in the near future.  The university claims that due to an overall lack of interest, they may no longer be able to offer certain foreign language courses.

According to the Chairperson of the Department of English and Modern Languages, Dr. Bette Kirschstein, it’s nearly impossible to keep a foreign language if the interest isn’t sufficient.

“Pace has established a standard of 12 students as the minimum limit in a fully enrolled courses,” Kirschstein said.  “Costs cannot be covered without that number, however there have been exceptions.  A potential growth in the field, ongoing demand, and appropriate faculty are all considered.”

Dyson undergraduate enrollment has generally been strong in the past few years, but that enrollment increase does not carry over into foreign languages.  Pace has been forced to only offer language majors and minors at the New York City campus.

That campus has 3,438 new undergraduate students this year, as opposed to 1,288 in Pleasantville, which is why New York is able to offer the foreign languages. Kirschstein believes that this is a smart way to sustain students with a more vast variability of courses.

“By consolidating these majors on one campus, we can offer a greater variety of courses and provide students with opportunities to interact in the language.  This is both pedagogically better and economically efficient,” Kirschstein said.

Some students, however, find it difficult to live in Pleasantville and commute to the city.

“The New York City campus isn’t as easily accessible for students, obviously due to its distance and limited transportation,” junior marketing major John Cattani said.  “It could become a struggle to attend classes on a consistent basis if someone is majoring in a foreign language.”

There are languages that have not been as lucky as those that are accessible in the city.  Chinese, for example, has not gained enough interest to be offered as a minor in Pleasantville or New York.  If the introductory course, Chinese 101, does not fulfill the requirement of 12 students this fall, it will be cut altogether.

100-level French, Italian, and Spanish culture classes will continue because they consistently attract a large number of students, but the minors for those languages will only be offered in Manhattan.

Kirschstein suggested that in addition to transferring or commuting to the New York City campus, studying abroad is a viable solution as well.

“Studying abroad for a semester is an excellent way to learn a foreign language and immerse oneself in a foreign culture,” Kirschstein said.  “Since the minors require 12 credits of language, we encourage students who wish to minor in French Studies or Italian Studies to study out of the country.”

While there are ways for Pleasantville students to work around this system, the same cannot be said for professors.  Unfortunately, if the interest does not show a potential for growth in the near future, teachers may lose their jobs.  By not having 12 students enrolled, Pace cannot cover the costs of a professor’s salary, among other needs.

At this point, continuing foreign language at Pace falls on the students.  The outcome of this issue will be a result of supply and demand.  If the student body wants to maintain these majors and minors, the demand will show, and the classes will come back.  If not, many foreign languages at Pace may be on their way out.