On September 14, 2009, the Dean’s Proposed Action Plan for the College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences (CA&ES) Academic Prioritization Committee Report was published. It starts off: “A faculty committee led by Professor MRC Greenwood was charged to advise our college on how to absorb expected significant budget cuts in ways that strategically position us for the future.”
The Academic Prioritization Committee (APC) recommended the closure of three departments: the Department of Environmental Design, Department of Nematology, and the Division of Textiles & Clothing (TXC).
[Dude, they didn’t even consider consolidating us. Just straight up closure].
Although this Action Plan is dated mid-September, TXC students did not discover the news until October 20, 2009 through an article in The California Aggie (You can access it here). Regardless of the news, department chair Dr. You-Lo Hsieh, stated in a letter that the department will still do its best to help us learn and thrive.
Why do they want to close it? The APC notes the small size of the department – we are so small that we are considered a “division;” ironically, we have been trying to hire new faculty for decades and have not been able to because of the lack of resources put into the department.
It is important to clarify that the APC recommends the closure of the department, and not the major; declared majors will be able graduate. However, what you may not realize is that the department IS the major. We TXC majors and minors exist because of the faculty who have invested much time and energy into our education and research for others.
The APC report also makes note of the College’s future priorities to Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (i.e. Agricultural threats; food safety, food choices, & adequacy; global hunger; genomics, proteomics and biotechnology, climate change, urbanization, migration, land use, etc).
While we (those who represent the major and the department) acknowledge these as top priorities as well, we want to you to consider this: California has the largest apparel industry and is the second largest cotton producer in the nation.
Guess what? UC Davis has the only Textiles & Clothing program within the UC system, and also has the only textile research institution in the state.
The department’s academic mission “is to develop, integrate and disseminate knowledge in the physical and social science aspects of sustainable production and consumption of fibrous and biobased materials and products.”
First of all, we don't [necessarily] design clothes. Those who do are the design majors who focus under textile and fashion design. In addition to the focus on the social and psychological aspects of clothing, a popular emphasis is Economics and Marketing.
[Sidenote: I have NOT been busting my ass for the past few years over these required managerial economics, mathematics, and chemistry-based classes just for you to think that this is some “froufrou fashion major.”]
TXC majors & minors take classes such as:
- Style and Cultural Studies (TXC7)
- Textile and Apparel Industries (TXC8)
- Textile Fabrics (TXC162) & Textile Fabrics Lab (TXC162L)
- Principles of Apparel Production (TXC164)
- Clothing Materials Science (TXC171)
- Intro to World Trade in Textiles & Clothing (TXC174)
We are taught in the classroom and the laboratory by outstanding faculty, those who are responsible for the research and ensuing development on military suits, firefighter jackets, anti-microbial gowns, etc. They continue such research for important stakeholders (i.e. the Occupational Health & Safety Association [OSHA] and the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] to name a few) that utilize our research.
The numerous creative projects give us hands-on experience for the future and greatly help us obtain internships in the field of retail, marketing, merchandising, testing, etc at companies such as Banana Republic, bebe, Target, Macy’s, Ralph Lauren, Cost Plus World Market. We have open and strong connections with our TXC alum; they often visit us and give insight during the quarterly career development seminars.
As these students graduate, they are able to find positions in the field of their choice. Our alum work at companies such as GAP, Nike, Adidas, BCBG, Northface, etc. Although a substantial percentage enter textile and apparel-related industries, that does not deter other alum from going into different fields such as finance and technology (they work at Wells Fargo and Google, respectively).
The uniqueness of Textiles & Clothing stems from the department. You know what’s even more amazing than everything I just told you? The faculty to student ratio is so low that I get the exceptional attention that I want and deserve.
TXC majors and minors, specifically juniors and seniors, acknowledge that without a doubt, we are prepared for the future; however, we feel that the closure of the department will invalidate the degree that we obtained for the future. And without a "valid" degree, how will we help California maintain its substantial apparel industry?
What can do you to help? Help us to dissuade them.
Write Dean Van Alfen (nkvanalfen@ucdavis.edu), Provost Enrique Lavernia (lavernia@ucdavis.edu), and Vice Provost Patricia Turner (paturner@ucdavis.edu) and tell them to reconsider the department’s closure.
I’ve given you my two cents. Now give them yours.
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