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Post by higheredguy on Aug 11, 2023 12:19:05 GMT -5
See this article for outlet coverage: www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/executive-leadership/2023/06/23/distraught-west-virginia-u-faculty-push-backMore (unverified as of now) program and department details here on Twitter (X?) English department will lose 1/3 of its faculty - how depressing. Does anyone know how funding for specific departments at HC is handled? How can we support our beloved departments as alumni? I often see fundraising for the HC Fund and entire college, but much less so for specific departments. Are endowed chairs/professorships a future-proof plan? I know we have some at HC but it seems like other LACs have more (or they publicize it more). Would love to hear the community's thoughts! Hope you are all safe and well! |
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Post by sader1970 on Aug 11, 2023 13:53:45 GMT -5
Gordon Gee, as Vince and I talked about a couple of months ago, is a "Have gun - will travel" college president (anyone else remember Richard Boone as "Paladin?").
When we lived in the Columbus area, he was president of THE Ohio State University by way of WVU. He always seemed to be an "athletics first" president. He left Columbus for Brown University, which absolutely appalled and shocked Columbus folks. Brown? Brown?!!! That rinky-dink little school? He had a 5 year contract. We happened to move to RI shortly after Gee left Buckeye country and my wife got a job at Brown and he met her and they exchanged pleasantries about living in central Ohio. He and his trademark bow tie. Three years (my memory, just looked it up, only 2 years!) into his 5 year Brown contract, he quit and went to Vanderbilt allegedly because Brown would not grant his wife tenure.
At Vandy, he made the Athletics department part of "Student Life" department. Leaving Vandy, he inexplicably went back to TOSU and then back to WVU. Who says "you can't go home again?" One thing for sure, he absolutely, positively won't ever be returning to Brown.
He's a controversial university leader to say the least.
But, Vince Rougeau is no Gordon Gee and we are looking to add faculty, not reduce faculty. Agree, we should look to endow faculty positions.
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Post by alum on Aug 11, 2023 13:57:14 GMT -5
See this article for outlet coverage: www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/executive-leadership/2023/06/23/distraught-west-virginia-u-faculty-push-backMore (unverified as of now) program and department details here on Twitter (X?) English department will lose 1/3 of its faculty - how depressing. Does anyone know how funding for specific departments at HC is handled? How can we support our beloved departments as alumni? I often see fundraising for the HC Fund and entire college, but much less so for specific departments. Are endowed chairs/professorships a future-proof plan? I know we have some at HC but it seems like other LACs have more (or they publicize it more). Would love to hear the community's thoughts! Hope you are all safe and well! Looking at HC's English Department, one finds it has 24 faculty members including lecturers and instructors. I also found a statement which said 6% of a recent graduating class were English majors. Figuring 3200 students total, 6% would mean 180 majors. I think that 24 faculty members for that many majors shows a commitment to the academic mission of the College. It also means that Shakespeare is being taught by a Shakespeare scholar and not a generalist who is also teaching Hawthorne. I was a poli sci major. Then and now they have multiple faculty members in the four subdisciplines (American, International Relations, Pol. Philosophy, and Comparative Politics.) If you want to identify a college in some sort of trouble, look at the number of adjunct faculty. I imagine that the College doesn't want the departments to compete against each other for donations. When donating for a specific purpose, one needs to be sure that the institution increases the overall spending for that purpose as opposed to keeping the budget the same and moving the funds around. |
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Aug 11, 2023 18:21:09 GMT -5
All revenue is general revenue
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Post by princetoncrusader on Aug 25, 2023 10:47:03 GMT -5
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Post by DFW HOYA on Aug 25, 2023 13:15:37 GMT -5
If you want to identify a college in some sort of trouble, look at the number of adjunct faculty. Yes and no. Adjuncts are not common at LAC's--Holy Cross has about 11 percent, compared to 22 percent at WVU and 27 percent at BC. Adjuncts are more plentiful (and not looked down upon as much) in schools in large cities, off-campus graduate programs, and/or those with majors such as economics, medicine, and business, particularly in Washington DC and New York, where the prevailing wisdom has been that a finance instructor with real-life experience on Wall Street is better than an academic who never learned investment strategy beyond reading a book. Adjunct numbers there are high, and yet, none of these schools are approaching ruin: Georgetown: 44% American: 46% George Washington: 50% Columbia: 51% NYU: 53% Fordham: 54% St. John's: 56% |
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Post by sader1970 on Aug 26, 2023 6:02:24 GMT -5
I might be corrected but my impression is the comparison of adjunct to tenured professor is similar to the comparison made between term life insurance policies vs. whole life policies: "It's like renting vs. owning." Adjuncts are cheaper for the college/university like the term policy is for the policyholder. And like a term policy, you might be more inclined to "drop" an adjunct. Yeah, they probably serve a purpose but from a professor's standpoint, job security probably is important for most.
I believe that HC uses adjuncts mostly to fill in for professors who are on sabbatical; ill; or otherwise to fill a short term issue.
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