Budget issues won’t hinder anthropology majors

The dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences on Thursday said a decision that requires the anthropology department to operate within its budget will not cause anthropology majors to fall short of course requirements needed for graduation.

“The anthropology department has overspent the budget that was assigned to it,” Dean Ross D. MacKinnon said in an e-mail sent to the college’s department heads and approximately 90 undergraduate anthropology majors.

“We are working to bring that overspending under control. I am confident that we can do this and still provide the classes needed by our undergraduate anthropology students.”

An anthropology graduate student caused a stir early last week when he sent an e-mail to a number of students claiming the department’s budget had been cut significantly, claiming the cut would result in the loss of a number of teaching assistant positions and courses offered by the department, which would delay graduation for both undergraduate and graduate students.

MacKinnon said many of the concerns were based on inaccurate information. The department’s budget has not been cut and, in fact, has been increased by 3 percent compared to last year.

MacKinnon has directed Professor W. Penn Handwerker, head of the department, to control his department’s spending, so that it would not go over budget in the future.