Report of the General Board on the organization of the Department of Other Languages

The GENERAL BOARD beg leave to report to the University as follows:

1. In their Report, dated 8 November 2006, on the establishment of a Department of German and Dutch (Reporter, 2006-07, p. 147), approved by Grace 2 of 10 January 2007, the General Board indicated that they expected to receive further proposals from the Faculty Board of Modern and Medieval Languages on the future of the Department of Other Languages.

2. The Department of Other Languages has an establishment of one University Teaching Officer. The holder of that post is currently Professor D. W. Holton who holds a single-tenure Professorship of Modern Greek. The Department also includes a small number of support and unestablished staff. It offers teaching provision in Modern Greek and Neo-Latin. The Faculty Board have given careful consideration to the future of this provision, as part of the overall strategy to provide the most robust and appropriate framework for the future of less-studied languages in the Faculty.

3. After considerable discussion and consultation both within the Faculty and beyond, the Faculty Board have proposed, with the approval of the Council of the School of Arts and Humanities, that: (i) the Department of Other Languages be formally suppressed; (ii) the University office in Modern Greek be assigned to the Faculty; and (iii) the Tripos papers in Neo-Latin become the responsibility of the Department of Italian. The staff in the Department of Other Languages have been consulted about these proposals and concur with them. The Chairman of the Faculty Board would act as the Head of Institution for employment purposes, and for those other areas for which a Head of Institution is formally responsible.

4. The Faculty Board propose these arrangements as the most appropriate means of expressing the Faculty's commitment to Modern Greek. They have also made proposals for promoting the identity of Modern Greek as a distinct subject area within the Faculty. The subject's profile will be enhanced by its appearance on the Faculty's website and elsewhere in its own right. Unless the University officer in Modern Greek is himself or herself an elected or co-opted member of the Faculty Board, the Chairman of the Faculty Board would represent the interests of Modern Greek at the Board and at the Degree Committee. In financial matters, Modern Greek would receive a separate allocation for 'other charges' together with a share of AHRC graduate training funding and of research grant overheads which would be managed by the University officer in Modern Greek on a day-to-day basis, with overall responsibility falling on the Chairman of the Faculty Board. Modern Greek would continue to be represented on the Faculty's language-specific committees and any working parties on teaching matters. The University officer in Modern Greek would be invited to submit cases to the Faculty's Standing Committee on Academic Vacancies in the same way as Heads of formal Departments. The administrative and secretarial arrangements applying to the Department of Other Languages would continue as now.

5. The proposals set out above would not incur any additional costs for the Faculty.

6. The General Board have accepted the Faculty Board's proposals and recommend:

• I. That the Department of Other Languages be suppressed, with effect from 1 October 2007.
   
• II. That, with effect from the same date, the Professorship of Modern Greek be assigned to the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages.
   
• III. That, with effect from the same date, regulations be amended as follows:
   
• 1. Regulations for the constitution of the Faculty Boards (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 546):
   
• By amending in Schedule I (the composition of the Faculty Boards) the entry for the Faculty Board of Modern and Medieval Languages so as to read:
   

• 2. Regulations for Departments and Heads of Departments (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 553):
   
• By deleting the reference to the Department of Other Languages.
   
• 3. Schedules to payments additional to stipends (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 646):
   
• By deleting the reference to the Department of Other Languages in Schedule 6.
   
• 4. Regulations for endowed University Lectureships (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 706):
   
• By amending the entry for the Modern Greek Fund to refer to the Faculties of Classics and Modern and Medieval Languages.