University not renewing term faculty contracts
By: Andrew Maddocks
Issue date: 2/13/09 Section: News
BY ANDREW MADDOCKS
in.depth@thedepauw.com
Although the University's $3 million operating deficit has not yet led to firings, the administration has chosen not to renew the contracts of most term faculty members - professors who are hired to teach full time for between one and six years.
The contracts will expire anyway, said Vice President of Academic Affairs Neal Abraham. Now, the University will have to use the money to balance the overall budget rather than rehire the faculty members.
President Brian Casey said he sees this as a short-term solution to help deal with extraordinarily difficult economic times.
"I hope it's not permanent at all," Casey said.
Some departments will start to feel the effects next year, Abraham said. As the 30 term faculty members start to leave, the number of classes will go down. Next year DePauw will offer 60 to 70 fewer courses than the 650 to 680 taught in an average year, Abraham said.
At the same time, the average class size will go up. Some classes will not be affected at all, while others may fit as many as five new students, Abraham said. The University's faculty-student ratio will change as well.
"We will see the faculty-student ratio move closer to 11 to one. It had been 10 to one," Casey said.
The most immediate impact will be felt in departments like modern languages that rely heavily on term faculty members. Professor Bob Hershberger, chair of the modern languages department, said staffing and course offerings will be tight for several languages, particularly Spanish.
Next year's Spanish course selection is "what you might call a bare bones curriculum," Hershberger said, "because we just don't have the kind of staffing we would need to have."
The department relies on full-time term professors and part-time global teaching fellows that they will not be able to rehire. Hershberger said they will be limited in their ability to open up additional sections if demand grows for particular classes.
in.depth@thedepauw.com
Although the University's $3 million operating deficit has not yet led to firings, the administration has chosen not to renew the contracts of most term faculty members - professors who are hired to teach full time for between one and six years.
The contracts will expire anyway, said Vice President of Academic Affairs Neal Abraham. Now, the University will have to use the money to balance the overall budget rather than rehire the faculty members.
President Brian Casey said he sees this as a short-term solution to help deal with extraordinarily difficult economic times.
"I hope it's not permanent at all," Casey said.
Some departments will start to feel the effects next year, Abraham said. As the 30 term faculty members start to leave, the number of classes will go down. Next year DePauw will offer 60 to 70 fewer courses than the 650 to 680 taught in an average year, Abraham said.
At the same time, the average class size will go up. Some classes will not be affected at all, while others may fit as many as five new students, Abraham said. The University's faculty-student ratio will change as well.
"We will see the faculty-student ratio move closer to 11 to one. It had been 10 to one," Casey said.
The most immediate impact will be felt in departments like modern languages that rely heavily on term faculty members. Professor Bob Hershberger, chair of the modern languages department, said staffing and course offerings will be tight for several languages, particularly Spanish.
Next year's Spanish course selection is "what you might call a bare bones curriculum," Hershberger said, "because we just don't have the kind of staffing we would need to have."
The department relies on full-time term professors and part-time global teaching fellows that they will not be able to rehire. Hershberger said they will be limited in their ability to open up additional sections if demand grows for particular classes.
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