INSPIRED by a recent comment on the blog ("Has hiring at IVC kept apace with growth?") and the general malaise about future hires at IVC (One hears 15, 12 and even the number 4 bandied about in the hallways), Rebel Girl devoted her Sunday morning to watching a recently released short documentary, Why We Need More Full-time English Faculty.
Produced by the School of Humanities
In a series of simple yet effective PowerPoint stills, Long presents a case rooted in history and statistics—in other words, reality and not, say, unannounced and inexplicable helicopter visitations, photo-opular security stipends, and nepotism most foul.
THE BRUTE FACTS. Drawing from analysis of his own files as a former department chair, he notes the following: Since 1998 the number of our Composition sections offered has grown by 60% . The number of full-time faculty employed in 1998 was 11–in 2015, it is expected to be 12. —That's right: 12.
Long could stop there—the contrast is enough. But he does not. He offers evidence of staffing percentages:
Above 42% of comp classes were taught by full-time faculty in 1998 but, in 2014, only 27% percent are.
He explains why this is a problem: "If the college-wide goal is 55% percent FT-PT staffing ratio—[Well,] we have never been close, we are at half that."
He adds a current statistic: this fall, 72 out of 102 comp sections will be staffed by part-time faculty—that's 71%. The cost, he claims, is demonstrated in the high turnover of part-time faculty, a lack of instructional consistency and so on.
He adds a current statistic: this fall, 72 out of 102 comp sections will be staffed by part-time faculty—that's 71%. The cost, he claims, is demonstrated in the high turnover of part-time faculty, a lack of instructional consistency and so on.
Obviously, the need for full-time faculty will grow as the college does and as the demand for sections of core curricula increase. Basic skills mandates increase demand for remedial courses, as well as co-reqs. State mandated co-reqs and pre-reqs will also increase demand for Writing 1 (college writing).
An audience member asked Long how many hires would be needed to address the serious, systematic under-hiring in the department. Lewis, who can do sophisticated math in his head quickly answered: Six.
How many are we anticipating hiring this year? At best: One.
Scintillating stuff. Movie thrills. Special effects. Cinema vérité. And Long: a handsome fellow, rugged good-looks, a man who knows how to use Powerpoint. Audiences love it, critics rave, Netflix is interested in an original series, sort of a cross between two recent offerings: Arrested Faculty Development and House of Add Cards.
But, alas, still only one full-time hire. Maybe.
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| Lewis Long: rodeo cowboy, Porsche enthusiast, Dickens scholar, union thug and master of the negotiating table |
L'HISTOIRE. It is worth noting that, at every opportunity during the last 21 years (the length, breadth, and width of Rebel Girl's own institutional memory), the Department of English has always seized the opportunity to hire full-time faculty–unlike certain other Departments and programs who have (for reasons best not discussed here) declined. So, in other words, we have grown as much as we were allowed to. And yet—well, the statistics tell the story. We have hired, not to grow, but to replace—barely. It must be said that the English Department has done well under difficult circumstances. Rebel Girl guesses that, this year, we've hired just about every available qualified part-time teacher in a three county radius!
ONE OBVIOUS QUESTION is, of course, how and why has this been allowed to happen? Where's the leadership? Who is (or isn't) paying attention? How do the decisions we make and in this case, do not make, affect our students?
Yes, somewhere in the bowels of the Inside IVC film vault there exists a copy of Lewis delivering the information (clumsily paraphrased by Rebel Girl here), complete with pastel Powerpoint slides and fancy font styles sure to impress. Rebel Girl understands that a limited number of DVD copies will be made available of Members of the Academy, the SOCCCD Board of Trustees and the IVC Administration for their consideration.
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| Lewis Long asks for more. |
The good people of Harlan County ask for much, much more.
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11 comments:
It sounds like you guys have a hiring policy that might look like it is driven by stats but doesn't really reflect reality and/or one that can be manipulated behind the scenes in order to reward certain people or programs. Or one that seeks to reward all equally with recognizing that some programs need more support than others. Or all of that. We used to have one like that. You have my sympathy.
The English dept. just hired two people.
I thought it was bad but I didn't know it was this bad. Why do people turn down F/T hires? (psst: 5:39 - those were replacements - not NEW hires.)
Why, we need to hire more admins like Justice and Griener, now that's the ticket!
The big picture - 15 years - is certainly helpful. Yes, we hire, but only to replace. Meanwhile the college grows - yes we are successful, but the management doesn't recognize that. Next thing you're going to tell me is that there aren't enough classrooms to teach in.
How many did Saddleback hire last year? And the year before that? And the year before THAT?
The effect of years of haphazard hiring in the English dept can also be seen in other depts. on campus. Yes, we have a hiring policy - but notice how it is manipulated from the get go. It will take YEARS to make up the deficit that this decade-long lack of leadership has caused us.
I hear we are going to hire 6 this year,. 6! 2 Tier 1, 2 Tier 2, 2 Tier 3. At first they'll tell us we're going to hire ten, perhaps even 15 as promised, but then "something" will happen and we'll hire 6.
We're the incredibly shrinking faculty. The buildings keep getting built, the students keep coming, the administrators keep getting hired as soon as some are fired - but the full-time faculty keep shrinking.
The big picture is certainly discouraging. We're made to feel so grateful when we get to hire one but history shows an inability to keep pace with growth. You'd think some higher-ups would notice this and try to address it. I know they want to balance the budget on the backs of underpaid part-timers but this kind of imbalance is crazy. Why would anyone want to work here?
What did happen to Darryl Cox? Anyone know anything?
What is the difference between IVC and Saddleback? I know Saddleback is much larger, but they also seem to be much, MUCH more successful at hiring new faculty. Is the senate at Saddleback stronger than the IVC senate? Are there some significant differences in the commitments, competencies, and strengths of the college presidents that accounts for this difference? I knew when the IVC admins said they would spread the replacement hires out over three years that they were lying. Intentional or not, they are destroying the college. I wish Glenn's first and last thought every day was, "how can we hire more full-time faculty at IVC?"
Saddleback IS larger because they have been allowed to grow like a college grows. Good for them. The commitment of IVC's leaders is to programs and events that make them look good and benefit a minority of students at the expense of the majority. the big picture show the sad truth. A burgeoning college brought to a dead halt over the last decade.
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