The University is financially strapped and cannot assist in funding the posts, Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles said this week. Funding the posts would be tantamount to creating new faculty positions, something administrators in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences have stated they will not do, given the $10 million FAS budget deficit.

With its hands tied, the University can only encourage the departments and committees to find solutions from within, Knowles said, adding that he is encouraging the four departments to "examine their priorities."

The chairs agreed that a solution from within the four departments and committees must be found. They are scheduled to meet next week to discuss finding such internal funds, Graham said.

"The administration is sympathetic," Huehnegard said. "But the administration is not in a position to give a department a new position. I understand that."

Besides the dire financial position, there is also a problem of time, said Knowles. The posts will terminate at the end of this academic year, which does not leave administrators much time to respond.

"The major difficulty is financial and response time," he said. "The interests and needs of students can change faster than the composition of the faculty can change."

In conjunction with the faculty efforts, the South Asian Student Association has been working with the departments and committees in the hope of keeping the South Asian studies program afloat.

"The chairs have undertaken the issue as they should," said Muneer I. Ahmad '93, co-head of the South Asian Students' Association. "We are being supportive of the chairs."

"As an organization, we are looking to promote South Asian culture. If the administration were not to continue the program--a 25 year-old program--we would consider it not only a setback but an insult," Ahmad said