Faculty members at
Appalachian State University breathed a momentary sigh of relief
at the smaller than expected budget cuts approved by the North Carolina
legislature last month, but in the aftermath of those cuts many
departments are still scrambling to make ends meet and accommodate
the growing number of students.
As Appalachian continues to grow and accept more students each year
to meet state requirements, hiring remains at a near standstill
for many full-time faculty positions across the campus.
Among the departments experiencing additional workloads and lack
of funding is the Department of Biology.
The Department of Biology has always been known for its unusually
large class sizes, but the constant influx of students striving
to complete their science requirements has left the department struggling
to keep up with the constant demand.
“Our introductory classes are very large, and we just don’t
have enough faculty to teach those classes,” said Dr. Vicki
J. Martin, chairperson for the Department of Biology. “We don’t
have enough space in the building for the smaller classes, and we
don’t have the money to cope with that problem. We just don’t
have the space or the personnel to teach.”
In addition to the lack of space and faculty, the Department of
Biology is also coping with a difficult staff shortage. The department
has one office staff member doing the job of two staff members,
forcing faculty members to pitch in and do much of their own office
work.
“You just band together and do the best you can in a situation
like this,” Martin said. “They’re working at a maximum
rate. When people are working as hard as they can and they don’t
have the staff we need, that, of course, affects morale.”
Another department suffering the campus-wide belt tightening is
the Department of English. Historically, the department allows a
maximum of 20 students in their 75-80 introductory English sections.
Budget cuts have forced the class sizes to expand to 24 students
per class in order to accommodate the additional incoming freshmen.
Chairperson for the Department of English Dr. D. Paul Haney said
he feels the cuts have been a major change for the faculty. Three
full-time department members were forced to cut their off-campus
research and assignments this fall and remain at Appalachian to
teach due to the increased number of students and the department’s
inability to hire new full-time staff.
“The faculty has done a very good job remaining cheerful despite
all of this,” Haney said. “They are very realistic about
the cuts. If there is a morale problem, it comes from the uncertainty
of this situation.”
Dr. Michael L. Krenn, chairperson of the Department of History,
said his department has suffered major losses this semester, including
three full-time professors taking early retirement and one resignation.
“We have to make room for between 2,700 and 2,800 students
every year for their world [civilizations] requirements,” Krenn
said. “We’ve had to offer up to 72 sections, which could
not possibly be covered by our full-time faculty because then they
could not teach the upper level courses.”
In order to combat the Department of History’s overflow, some
part-time instructors have been hired, and the department is being
allowed four new hires. Krenn said he feels this will only put them
back to where they were initially.
“We have had to go to larger sections,” Krenn said. “We’ve
had as many as 45 students in a class in the past to about 80 students
per class this year. The department has tried to hold onto the idea
of having smaller classes, but there’s just no way around it.”
Dr. William C. Bauldry, chairperson of the Department of Mathematical
Sciences, said his department is taking on much heavier workloads,
which are affecting the faculty’s ability to teach and complete
research.
“The heavier load cuts down on the time we can spend on new
course development, research and time with students,” Bauldry
said.
The Department of Mathematical Sciences is also finding it difficult
to retain their current faculty and offer competitive salaries and
benefits to prospective candidates for faculty positions. Of the
six offers made last year, only one new faculty member accepted
the offer to teach in the department.
“The good news is, in a time like this, people pull together
to cover the extra work,” Bauldry said. “The bad news
is, they get very tired, and that affects our employee retention
rate.”
Some departments on campus have not felt the sting of budget cuts
and student overflow as much. Department of Communication associate
professor Dr. Paul H. Gates Jr. said he feels the administration
recognizes the large faculty needs of his department, due to its
ranking as one of the largest departments at Appalachian.
“Things look good,” Gates said. “The budget is not
as bad as we thought it would be. Things are not as grim as they
were last year. We don’t have a situation where people are
sitting in the aisles or we’re having to cancel classes.”
Also in good shape is the Department of Psychology, which chairperson
Dr. Stan R. Aeschleman said has remained steady in its student inflow.
The department is currently looking to hire three new full-time
instructors, and has not had to increase its class sizes to accommodate
larger numbers of students.
Despite each department’s current conditions,
questions still remain about the future of class sizes. Faculty
and students alike are continuing to raise questions about Appalachian’s
ability to maintain its famed small classes and one-on-one personal
attention from professors. |
