The end of our Origins

After a decade of operation, students will no longer have the option to explore the beginnings of the universe.

The Faculty of Science has decided to discontinue the undergraduate Origins Research Specialization. The ORS will be phased out over three years, meaning that the students currently enrolled in levels two through four will be the last to complete the specialization.

Robert Baker, Dean of the Faculty of Science, explained that the decision to close the program was a financial one.

“Our main concern over the research specialization is the low number of students who take it so we have to put on courses for the relatively new students taking it,” said Baker. “We just don’t think that’s very effective.”

The ORS enrolled 18 new students in level II for the 2014-2015 academic year, two shy of its enrolment goal.

The Institute was opened in 2004 and is one of few such institutions in North America, aiming to provide “broad interdisciplinary courses aimed at fundamental questions in science.” In addition to the ORS, the Origins Institute continues to run a graduate program in astrobiology.

Jonathan Stone, Associate Director of the Origins Institute, admits that he and his colleagues were somewhat surprised by the closing of the specialization.

“It was very informal,” he said of the discussions surrounding the closing of the ORS in the spring. “From my perspective […] it disappeared overnight.”

Stone speculated that it was because of the lack of protection by any one faculty that the ORS was so quickly shut down.

“I understand the faculty is in dire financial situation,” he said. “And I think we were just the easiest member of the herd to trim.”

Students in the specialization, as well as faculty, are disappointed at the decision to end the ORS.

“I think it’s a huge shame, because I think the Origins courses are really what a science course at McMaster should be,” said Julie-Anne Mendoza, a fourth-year Arts and Science student pursuing a combined honours in Origins studies.

“The current format [of science courses] is boring, and it’s not a great way to learn. But the Origins courses take a very creative approach. We talk about problems from a much more holistic approach.”

As VP Academic of the Origins Undergraduate Society, Mendoza has helped to collect letters from students and alumni who are unhappy with the decision from the Faculty of Science. The letters were submitted to the Academic Planning committee in the hopes of appealing the closure.

Though the decision is not technically final, Stone has little hope that the decision would be overturned, considering the committee’s previous comments.

“I would say the odds are literally 99 percent against,” he said of the possibility for a reversal of the cut.

Despite this, Stone, with the support of the OI, has proposed that Origins be preserved at the undergraduate level in the form of a stream in the Life Sciences program. He envisions a collection of courses, hosted by a variety of different departments within the Faculty of Science, that can be combined into a form of origins studies and would enroll a larger number of students.

The OI submitted a document proposing this option to the Dean.

“It is a possibility,” Baker said of a potential Origins stream. “We haven’t made that decision yet.”

He explained that the current stages of academic planning are still preliminary, and before any final commitments are made the committee will convene working groups to explore different curriculum options.

A new stream in Life Sciences would fit with the Faculty’s new priorities.

“What we really want to do is try and take some of the things we’ve learned from things like Origins Research Institute and the iSci program and bring some of those ideas to a much larger range of students so more of them can profit from that interdisciplinary hands-on type of approach,” said Baker.

The committee is considering establishing a stream in health geography and health policy, as well as one focused on human health, toxins, and environmental issues.

The Dean recognized that the closing of the ORS was not ideal, but was a pragmatic choice.

“It’s not like we’re saying it’s not a good program and students aren’t learning from it,” he said. “It is simply that we need the resources to improve other programs that need improvement and we will reach more students.”