Petition to Halt Cuts in IDS Instructional Budgetary Allocation

Petition to Halt Cuts in IDS Instructional Budgetary Allocation
International Development Studies, Trent University

Recently the Dean of Undergraduate Studies made the decision to cut the IDS departments instructional budgetary allocation in response to the $2 million deficit in the instructional budget of Trent University. As a result, the following courses have been cut for the 2010-2011 academic year: IDST 100 in Oshawa; Global Institutions and Development (IDST 314); Capitalism (IDST 411); one section of Canada Globalization and International Development (IDST 424); Topics in Global Political Economy: Money and Finance (IDST 425); Religion and Social Movements (IDST 470); and Family and Modernity (IDST 476). These cuts will undeniably have the greatest impact on the upcoming fourth-year IDS students.

Not only will the cuts affect students next year, but it will threaten the reputation that the IDS program has deservingly earned. The IDS department has had exceptional retention rates over the years and this is due to the dedicated professors and the unique opportunities that the program offers.

We the undersigned students of the IDS department, hereby call upon the President of Trent University to intervene in these actions, which are both detrimental to one of the most outstanding departments at Trent and to the University as a whole.

For a constant update of events, discussion and progress please visit the facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=362468216172&ref=mf

There will also be an article in The Arthur, Trent's student-run newspaper, the week of March 22 2010. You can look for it in their Archives at trentarthur.ca