Late last week, it was announced that the Department of African and Afro-American Studies would be renamed the Department of African, African American and Diaspora Studies to reflect new reforms to the department after its place in the recent academic scandal.
The name change will help the department move past the turmoil and scandal and could facilitate further reforms. However, it must be coupled with substantive departmental changes.
One new policy requires students taking independent study courses to be a junior or senior major in the subject with a minimum GPA of 3.0. Students must also sign a contract to partake in an independent study course.
But many other departments have also changed their standards in a similar way.
The newly renamed department has also announced new policies for course syllabi content, retention, exams and grading. But the progress in the implementation process of these new policies could be more transparent.
If the department would like a fresh start, its leaders must do more than change the name; they must continue review and enact substantive reforms in a transparent manner.
Although the name of the department is being altered, this still does not mean that the past issues have been completely addressed yet.
It is unlikely that a scandal reaching back several years will be solved in such a short time, so review must continue.
The department’s first steps need to be just the first of many to ensure that the department’s integrity and founding principles are restored.
