Organizational Structures and the LPD

Large language programs often serve high-demand languages such as Spanish, French, or Chinese, or meet the needs of institutions with robust language requirements or diverse student populations. These programs have more resources but require more complex management structures. The LPD in these programs oversees the entire program, sets curriculum guidelines, and represents the program within the department or college, whereas coordinators usually manage specific courses or levels and ensure consistency in instruction across sections. Courses in these programs are usually taught by faculty focused on teaching and curriculum development (e.g., full-time lecturers or adjuncts), as well as graduate students with teaching appointments. In larger units, occasionally there are staff members to provide support to the program, such as administrative coordinators who handle scheduling, textbook ordering, and other logistics. The LPD is frequently hired specifically into the LPD role and often is a specialist in language acquisition or pedagogy. 

Mid-sized programs are often those of languages with moderate demand, such as German, Italian, or Arabic, where they must strike a balance between resource availability and program complexity. The LPD and coordinator roles are often combined, and that person is responsible for instruction as well as coordination. Instructors are often faculty, most often in non-tenure-track lines, and occasionally graduate students, though current declines in enrollments have taken their toll on these departments and many have, unfortunately, closed or paused their graduate programs. Given that these programs frequently exist within larger language departments, it is less likely that there will be dedicated staff support for the lower-division courses, though office staff will usually still handle scheduling and room reservations, for example. Many programs of this size also hire LPDs specifically for this role, but others appoint a faculty member into the LPD/coordinator role, independent of scholarly background and interests.  

LCTL programs such as Swahili, Greek, or Hungarian are generally housed within broader interdisciplinary departments or area studies programs, or in a large all-language department. In these cases, a single faculty member–or occasionally even a part-time instructor–may be responsible for establishing the curriculum as well as teaching most if not all of the courses. There is unlikely to be specialized staff support for these programs. The LPD in these programs may oversee more than one language, and may even be the only faculty member in that language. Although the coordination demands are lessened in these situations, the challenges of establishing and/or maintaining an entire program are significant.

Shared language programs or consortium-based systems have their own unique needs and structure. These programs serve students from multiple institutions by pooling resources, particularly for LCTLs. Faculty in these programs typically teach remotely using online platforms, and the LPD is generally a faculty member at one of the institutions. The LPD is responsible for managing and scheduling across campuses, and thus requires extra communication and coordination. Alternately, some shared language programs are housed in language centers with an administrator overseeing the program, rather than an LPD. In these cases, that administrator fulfills a role comparable to the LPD in terms of duties and responsibilities.