A $150,000 BMW Manufacturing Co. gift to Clemson University will help put another German language instructor in front of Clemson University students.
The pledge will be paid over three years, and most of the funds will be used to pay the salary and benefits for a German-language lecturer in the foreign language department's German Section.
"BMW is pleased to have the opportunity to increase the exposure of Clemson University students to German," said Robert Hitt, manager for Media and Public Affairs at BMW Manufacturing. "The German language section of Clemson University's language department plays a vital role in readying graduates to work with German-owned businesses like BMW."
"This gift allows us to be creative and innovative instead of just meeting the needs of students," said Margit Sinka, a professor of German and the head of the foreign language department's German section. "We will be able to offer more courses that are beneficial to students, and it allows the German section to be more student oriented."
"We are one of the few universities that have increased our enrollment in German, in most of the nation, German enrollments are down."In the 1980s, Sinka said, Clemson's German section typically had eight or 10 German language majors a year.
"This year, we had 32," she said. "Most of those majors are in language and international trade."
Besides the increase in majors, the German section is also seeing an increase in students who are choosing to study German, In all, more than 200 students take German each semester.
That demand for German-language classes and the responsibilities associated with advising students has the three full-time and one part-time faculty members who currently make up German language section scrambling to meet the need, Some students are turned away from beginning German classes that are too full.
BMW's gift will allow the German section to better address the needs of students and allow more sections of German classes.
Approximately a third of the 200 students in German classes each semester are engineering majors, Five years ago, 24 engineering students took German. Currently, 60 engineering majors study German.
"With a new faculty member acting as a liaison person with the College of Engineering and Science, the number of engineering students taking German could increase even more dramatically," Sinka said.
The new lecturer will also free members of the current faculty to conduct research and increase the number of upper-level courses, including courses that focus on professional needs.
The new position will also help the Clemson University language department reach out across campus and to the growing community of German-owned businesses in the area.
"The new lecturer will arrange outreach activities on campus and to businesses in the Upstate," Sinka said.