ACU’s Department of Foreign Languages will merge with the Department of English, effective May 31, 2012. Foreign languages classes will be listed under the English department once the transition is complete.

Harland Rall, chair of the Department of Foreign Languages said the faculty and students of the department had not been completely informed of the reasons behind the merger.

“I’ve been told that it’s a cost saving matter and it’s a part of the ACU resizing,” Rall said. “That’s all I know.”

Rall said the foreign languages department will lose one professor and its administrative coordinator because of the merger. Rall said he would no longer be chair of the department, but a full time professor. Not including the faculty member to be laid off, all professors will remain in a full time teaching position.

The academic programs of Spanish, German and French will all remain intact after the transition, Rall said, but the futures of the English Second Language and International Studies programs are not yet decided.

Trent Pickrell, senior Spanish teaching major from Keller, said he has been assured all the classes he needs will still be offered.

“I just know that the departments are merging and I don’t know what that means, but Harland Rall made sure to guarantee us students that the transition wouldn’t affect the availability of the classes we need,” Pickrell said.

Pickrell said the students shouldn’t feel much effect from the merger of the departments. With all of the classes still available, the only confusion would be in the name of the classes.

Though it is not expected to affect the students greatly, Pickrell did say there was a noticeable difference in the morale of the department office. Pickrell said just knowing there is going to be a change and cuts will have to be made has made it difficult to deal with the merger.

More information about ACU’s foreign language programs can be found at www.acu.edu/academics/cas/fl/index.html.