Welcome to the Division of Sociology and Anthropology
Dear Alumni, Friends and Students,
I have just completed my first exciting year as Chair of the Division of Sociology and Anthropology. The Division continues to experience enormous growth and change. During the 2006-2007 school year, we hired an archaeologist, a rural sociologist, and a sociologist specializing in social stratification. In the Fall 2007 semester we will be searching for a criminologist and a cultural anthropologist.
The transformations in our Division are connected to significant changes in the economic context for higher education. The state of West Virginia now provides less than 20% of West Virginia University’s total budget. The University has adjusted to the decline in state funding in several ways. First, the University has increased its total revenue from students by increasing student enrollment and tuition costs. In the Fall of 1996, there were 21,743 students enrolled at the University. The estimated projection for Fall 2006 is about 4500 total students higher. In 1996, the cost for one semester as an in-state undergraduate was $1,131 compared to $4,476 in 2006. The cost for out of state undergraduates has increased from $3,562 to $13,840. Students now spend between $400-$600 a semester on books. These changes have generated new revenue but also place more instructional demands on professors and financial demands on students. There are also increasing research demands placed on faculty in terms of publishing, graduating PhD. students, and acquiring external funding. These teaching and research demands can sometimes conflict with each other.
Despite these significant changes, our Division has survived this transition quite well. We continue to offer a Master's degree in Sociology and two undergraduate majors within our Division: a broad major in Sociology and Anthropology and a more concentrated major in Criminology and Investigations. Our pre-majors and majors have increased from 215 in the Fall 2002 to 769 in 2007. We continue to be the second highest number of premajors/majors in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.
Faculty in the Division are active in teaching and researching a variety of societal issues that affect the state, region, nation, and the globe. Some of these issues are worker health and safety, terrorism, poverty, economic development, racial segregation, hate crimes, and immigration. Our sustained commitment to systematically studying and understanding human behavior, interactions, and societies is critical in successfully interpreting and navigating a social world filled with rapid economic transformations, globalization, radical technological innovation, and international war. We have retained our student-centered focus and continue to provide high quality instruction, interaction, and mentoring. Our courses are innovative and allow students to integrate and apply what they have learned. Our applied Master’s graduate program provides employees for state agencies and students for advanced degree programs.
We will continue to document our progress and change, so please continue to visit our website. We appreciate your interest in our program.
With regards,
Melissa Latimer, Chair of the Division of Sociology and Anthropology