Message from
the Executive Committee Concerning Database of Classics
Departments
The APA is currently engaged in a
major project, the establishment of a continuing database
of information on all departments employing classicists
and offering Classics courses in the United States and
Canada. In March, a census questionnaire was sent to 444
chairs of departments in an effort to obtain accurate
data on such important topics as Classics majors and
minors, Classics degrees, number of Classics courses and
their enrollments, and tenure-status and rank of Classics
faculties. The questionnaire requires some time and
effort to complete, especially to ascertain accurate
figures for courses, enrollments, and majors, but the end
result will be extremely useful for the entire
profession. We live in a world where statistics are
required for many different purposes; any group without
readily available and reliable data will lose ground.
With your cooperation, we can build a database that can
provide data on Classics departments, courses, and
enrollments for questions as broadly inclusive as the
national level (Canada, or the United States, or both) or
as narrowly focused as a specific type of department in a
single state or province.
However, the success of this census
will depend on the submission of accurate and complete
figures by individual departments. We are very grateful
to the 236 departments who have returned the surveys and
who are currently responding to e-mail queries for
further information or clarification. We encourage the
208 departments which have not yet filled out the
surveys, including some of our major graduate
institutions, to do so. It is never too late to add
information; there is no terminus ad quem for a database, which can be constantly
updated. If you are a department chair and have not yet
returned the survey (or have returned it without actual
figures for majors, courses, and enrollments), we
strongly urge you to fill out the questionnaire (or
submit the additional information); an Acrobat file of
the survey is online at <http://www.apaclassics.org/profmat/dept_census.pdf
>. If you are not a chair, we ask that you find
out whether your department has participated in the
census and offer to help gather the required data if it
has not. For further information, please contact the Vice
President for Professional Matters, Barbara McManus
<bmcmanus@cnr.edu>.
August 2, 2004