CUNY DIGITAL HISTORY ARCHIVE

This self study was prepared by the Women's Studies Certificate Program (WSCP) on March 23, 2007. The self study states that WSCP began in 1990 and that its student enrollment had risen steadily from 132 students in the 2001–02 academic year to 227 students in the 2005-06 academic year. These students were drawn from different doctoral programs at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center, including English, sociology, social-personality psychology, political science, art history, clinical psychology, comparative literature, developmental psychology, history, linguistics, philosophy, social welfare, and urban education. The report identified the program's required courses as "Major Feminist Texts," "Contemporary Feminist Thought," "Proseminar: Multicultural/Transnational Feminisms," "Workshop in Women's Studies," and two electives with a gender component in any field. The study stated that faculty were required to serve on the Advisory Board, develop the semester's Speaker's Series, and present their own work. The external review detailed WSCP's history, providing specific dates for programs and publications resulting from WSCP's efforts. It also described the program's relationship with doctoral programs, library resources, equipment, and facilities and well as information on how the program gave its graduates a competitive edge regarding employment after graduation. The third section of the review focused on issues faced by WSCP, such as the lack of meeting space and the lack of direction when students finished the requirements for the certificate program but did not finish the doctoral program in which they were enrolled.
The review stated that it had been previously decided that the coordinator of WSCP and the director of the Center for the Study of Women and Society (CSWS) would be combined in one full-time position, which also involved teaching two of the certificat's required courses; however, this arrangement had not been honored. Additionally, WSCP suggested the possibility of a Master's of Arts program in women's studies, which was going to be difficult since the Graduate Center did not offer stand-alone Master's degrees at that time but was considering doing so. This section was followed by faculty profiles and the publications they had produced.

The External Review Committee found the WSCP impressive and essential. They recommended a name change to Women's and Gender Studies, an MA program in women's and gender studies, a certificate of completion for those that fulfilled the certificate program's requirements, more publicity for the program, changes in course requirements, the introduction of a women's studies seminar paper, reinstatement of the co-taught courses, and at least 50% course release for the director of the program. The review committee also provided three possible structures for women's and gender studies at the graduate level. WSCP responded to the External Review Committee's recommendation, signed its coordinator and director of CSWS, Professor Anne Humpherys. The document ended with correspondence sent to faculty who may have wanted to meet with the External Review Committee and the schedule for the entire review process.