Should there be an undergrad Fletcher school?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tufts University
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<p>I've always thought that it would be a good idea. This article from last week's Observer -- surprisingly written be a freshman -- elaborates on all the reasons it would benefit the university. I agree with him. Others' take?</p>

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IR Majors: Want a B.A. from Fletcher?</p>

<p>February 2, 2007</p>

<p>by Christopher Giliberti</p>

<p>Oh, the college process—a harrowing experience many of us would sooner give a limb than relive. Yet some aspects of the trauma are still perfectly, really painfully, clear in my mind: SATs, innumerable essays, the Common Application. Of all of my ravishing recollections one key component, perhaps the catalyst of it all, remains a bit fuzzy.</p>

<p>Now a pro of the process, so to speak, and quite saturated with information, I forget just what it was which at first attracted me to certain institutions prior to really researching. I can’t be sure, but I suspect my initial appraisals were related to organization. My interest resonated in the field of international relations, and so universities that placed an overt and organized emphasis on the field appeared especially relevant.</p>

<p>Take, for example, Georgetown University—possibly Tufts’ foremost competitor in the recruitment of students interested in IR. Georgetown has an undergraduate School of Foreign Service. When I was applying there, it was exciting to leaf through the Georgetown brochure that highlighted their specialized institution of foreign affairs, picturing myself deep in a course of study at a school solely dedicated to my intended field. Georgetown’s commitment to international relations is clear on a basic, structural level, consequently lending the school great first-choice appeal.</p>

<p>A college’s yield, or the percentage of admitted students that have chosen to matriculate, speaks directly to an institution’s popularity amongst its applicants. It’s no secret that Tufts has built one of the strongest IR programs of any university in the country; in fact, the Gourman Report, perhaps the most respected ranking of undergrad IR programs, places Tufts at number one, ranking it above Princeton (second) and Harvard (fifth).</p>

<p>Interestingly enough, of the three most prominent institutions where IR is the largest major—Georgetown, Tufts, and Johns Hopkins—Georgetown is the only to organizationally employ undergraduate schools. Not coincidentally, Geogretown reports the highest yield of the three at 47 percent, while Tufts and Hopkins lag at 33 and 32 percent, respectively.</p>

<p>To broaden the context from simply IR, New York University also separates its undergraduate programs, and sports a yield of nearly 40 percent, despite being placed seven spots lower than Tufts in the U.S. News and World Report rankings.</p>

<p>These statistics indicate a trend: specialization leads to higher yields. Following this rationale, Tufts can bolster its most popular major and its reputation as a whole by establishing an undergraduate program at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.</p>

<p>An undergraduate Fletcher would also make sense structurally for the IR department. Majors in IR currently select the “cluster” they want to focus on within IR: nationalism culture and identity, European studies, global conflict and cooperation, etc. This is a confusing system that does not translate well to academic recognition off the Hill. It would make more sense to build the IR major into an undergraduate college and make each cluster a distinct major.</p>

<p>And there is no better time than now. The Tufts administration is working hard to publicly promote the university—a billion dollar capital campaign, millions to a consultant, that new wordmark and the revised seal. An undergraduate Fletcher School coincides with many of the university’s long-term goals: a stronger reputation in national education, a larger endowment, better marketing. An undergraduate program at the Fletcher School would draw from an established name in diplomacy, which would contribute to considerable recognition of a B.A. from Fletcher.</p>

<p>A university whose primary goal is to “prepare students to be committed public citizens and future leaders” must first commit itself. Greater segmentation at the undergraduate level would draw attention from all directions, consequently leading an increased number of highly qualified students deciding to make the transfer from high school to Tufts. Incredible opportunities abound for IR majors, be it grants for research through the Tisch College, or just the chance to converse with an inspiring professor. The establishment of an undergraduate Fletcher School would demonstrate Tufts’ commitment to preserving the excellence of the IR program and the opportunities it provides—opportunities as broad as a reputable degree or intimate as intellectual exchange.</p>

<p>Chris Giliberti is a freshman and has not yet declared a major.

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<p>It's an interesting idea, but my guess is that Tufts doesn't want their undergraduates to specialize too much. With their emphasis on distribution requirements, I don't think there are enough courses left over in an IR student's schedule to justify having an undergraduate Fletcher School.
I believe that you can apply to the graduate Fletcher School and start taking classes there during your senior year. It seems like a good deal to me.</p>

<p>What do you think lolabelle? I feel that it's important for an undergraduate school to be an undergraduate school. There's plenty of time for grad school later.</p>

<p>I always wondered why Tufts didn't have a graduate B-school or law school.
Probably lack of space. I think those grad schools would enhance the university however.</p>

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<p>Am sure there are plenty of pros and cons each way, but DO know that if an undergraduate Fletcher-type school existed at Tufts, S. would have applied in a heartbeat. If you look at what the SFS has done for Georgetown, I would think of it as a positive thing, though also their location for such is ideal.</p>

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<p>I'm not sure I understand what the point of all this would be? Tufts is already one of the top IR schools in the country, the rigor of it's language programs is widely respected and you can take classes at Fletcher if you want. What did I miss? Are we to suggest that having an extra BUILDING is going to make Tufts' IR program anymore appealing than it obviously already is?</p>

<p>Personally I don't think it's worth that amount of money. If Georgetown wasn't in DC I'd say go for it but as it stands now I don't see Georgetown falling from that number 1 slot anytime soon, so what's wrong with being #2? Is the difference really that profound?</p>

<p>What would be good for Tufts to do is to start building it's connections with Georgetown, like, allowing Tufts students that want to spend a year in DC to spend a year in DC taking classes at Georgetown instead of American. I wanted to go to DC for a year to study Arabic but I could only take classes at American as an exchange student. I had to apply to Georgetown seperately as a visiting student and get accepted by them if I wanted to study Arabic and take classes there.</p>

<p>Ya dig?</p>

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<p>How hard is it to get into Tufts' Washington semester? Do many IR majors take advantage of it?</p>

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<p>Every IR major I know if they go anywhere they go abroad. Nah, I wasn't an IR major though. I was a Middle Eastern Studies and Political Science major for awhile. That's why the move to Washington would've been beneficial for me but I never went through with it. Actually I applied for a complete transfer to Georgetown the semester after that, got accepted but never went through with that either. I have a habit of not seeing things through to their ending so I might not be the best person to ask about the IR program.</p>

<p>I do know that what I said before is true, that Tufts only has ties with American University and you have to be approved by Georgetown as a visting student (meaning you gotta do all the Finnacial Aid stuff, the essays, the recommendations and the whole nine man) if you want to take classes there. I really should've gone because I really love DC, especially SouthEast DC. Reminds me of New York City in the early 90's...before Giulliani came in and ruined everything.</p>

<p>Basically Tufts could help itself out alot if it started warming up to G'Town.</p>

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<p>I'm sorry RBAY, but I don't really think your reasoning behind "Basically Tufts could help itself out alot if it started warming up to G'Town." is at all solid nor necessary in this conversation.</p>

<p>I also don't agree that Tufts is necessarily #2 in IR behind Gtown. By some rankings and in some people's opinion, Tufts is #1. In other cases, yes, it's vice-versa. All that being said, they are the very best IR programs in the nation. I would add JHU as well.</p>

<p>I think that if Fletcher were to give Tufts degrees to IR majors, it would make the school even mroe well-known for IR than it is now. Like someone posted above, the SFS basically made Gtown. I think a Fletcher degree for IR major undergradutes could bring similar benefits to Tufts. However, at the same time, there is an attraction to Tufts' IR program being part of the lib-arts school -- in fact, that's why I picked Tufts over Gtown when I got into both as a senior in high school, as I was sure I wanted to study IR, but I knew it was likely I'd want to double-major in something else, like English or Classics. What I suggest, then, is that maybe Tufts coudl find a middle ground -- grant undergraduate degrees in IR from the Fletcher school, but basically not change anything else. And people can still double-major in the lib-arts school.</p>

<p>Just FYI: in the new capital campaign, the next building they want to build is an undergraduate IR building.</p>

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<p>"I'm sorry RBAY, but I don't really think your reasoning behind "Basically Tufts could help itself out alot if it started warming up to G'Town." is at all solid nor necessary in this conversation"</p>

<p>What is your problem, really? Is it that I pointed out something Tufts could do to improve the opportunities of the students which by extension would have to mean that Tufts is not omnipotent? Oh, I'm sorry your Holiness, please forgive me for this sacrilege I have commited against thee.</p>

<p>You're telling me that Tufts abroad in Washington D.C., which I'd imagine is pretty popular among IR and POS students wouldn't be improved if Tufts sought an exchange with Georgetown instead of American? Please. This is a conversation about IR and what Tufts can do to improve in that department. I don't see at all how my comment wasn't "solid or necessary" in anyway other than you not liking it.</p>

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<p>Actually that's not what I'm saying at all. The D.C. program is not very popular with IR/polisci students -- nearly all IR students go ABROAD (makes sense doesn't it, as the major requires 8 semesters of a foreign language). The D.C. program is often for those who can't go abroad for whatever reason.</p>

<p>In any case, the reason I don't think your argument holds much weight is because I don't think the D.C. program defines the strengths or weaknesses of Tufts' IR program. </p>

<p>And you can spend a year or a semester at Georgetown as a visting student; you needn't transfer completely. Sure, Tufts can try to create a program with Gtown as it has with American now. But I dont't hink that will change the program in any major way.</p>

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<p>Where did I say, better yet, where did I even SUGGEST that the future of Tufts' IR program hinges on a relationship with Georgetown? You folks just love building strawmen don't cha?</p>

<p>I said it would be a good thing to do, that it would help Tufts out. I mean, how could it not? Nevermind, God, forget I even brought it up.</p>

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<p>I think that starting to offer an undergraduate degree from Fletcher is an interesting idea. It could be beneficial to both programs, expanding overall awareness of Tufts as THE place to go for IR whether it be undergraduate or graduate.</p>

<p>That said, I think someone already pointed out that if the Undergrad program is already doing extremely well (ranked 1 or 2) so what is the point of spending a large amount of time and money to incorporate it into Fletcher? As far as the “Yield” of students to your program, I think that lower percentages at Tufts and Hopkins have nothing to do with the quality of the program, rather they are a reflection of the schools locations in Medford and Baltimore as compared to NYC and Wash DC.</p>

<p>Also, I am somewhat concerned about the “potential” negative ramifications on the Graduate program. By definition, undergraduate programs and graduate programs (especially Masters programs) have completely different priorities and ways of focusing education and resources. Everyone knows Georgetown SFS is great for IR, but there is no question that it's reputation for the undergraduate program far exceeds that of the graduate program. Lots of grad students prefer SAIS or Fletcher precisely because they are exclusively focused on the needs of graduate students.</p>

<p>That isn't to say that a BA program shouldn’t be considered, I just think it is important to think about the pros and cons and whether it is even necessary.</p>

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<p>I think that keeping fletcher separate, yet still allowing the resources to the undergrads (which is the current system) is good, and the actual change would merely be a name. On the other hand, keeping the IR program integrate with the entire undergraduate school keeps with the Tufts themes of interdisciplinary studies and internationalism. Anyone can and might take IR courses, or better yet organize student groups which integrate IR students. Lastly, another important thing about tufts is how it lacks the snootiness of other similar schools, and adding a more exclusive prgram would again be contradictory to this.</p>

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<p>I find both these points to be interesting:</p>

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That said, I think someone already pointed out that if the Undergrad program is already doing extremely well (ranked 1 or 2) so what is the point of spending a large amount of time and money to incorporate it into Fletcher? (...) Everyone knows Georgetown SFS is great for IR, but there is no question that it's reputation for the undergraduate program far exceeds that of the graduate program. Lots of grad students prefer SAIS or Fletcher precisely because they are exclusively focused on the needs of graduate students.

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keeping the IR program integrate with the entire undergraduate school keeps with the Tufts themes of interdisciplinary studies and internationalism.

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