2008 Woodie Awards
Language dept. recovers after loss of three faculty
By: Anna Forder
Issue date: 11/9/06 Section: News
The department of international languages and cultures has some new faces this semester due to the resignation of three adjunct professors last May.
The department currently has 18 adjuncts and four full-time professors, said Mary O'Donnell, department associate. Latin classes were cancelled due to the professors leaving, but will resume in the spring 2007 semester.
Emily Thompson, an associate French professor said it's difficult to keep adjuncts and develop curriculum in new languages, such as Mandarin Chinese, because adjuncts aren't paid full salary if their classes have less than seven students.
Languages that are new to the department tend to have low enrollment for the first few semesters, which makes it more difficult to keep adjuncts for those classes, Thompson said.
Thompson said the department relies heavily on adjuncts.
"It had us kind of scrambling to find qualified people to replace them," Thompson said. "It's something we always fear in a department with a lot of adjuncts."
Department Chairwoman Graciela Corvalan said the professors leaving didn't negatively affect the department, and new professors have been hired to fill their roles.
Thompson said the adjunct professors didn't leave the department because of a singular trigger; they each left for different personal reasons.
Two of the adjunct professors left to take full-time positions at other institutions, and one left because a spouse's job was transferred, Corvalan said. Annalise Brody and Melanie Butler, both adjuncts that left the department, were replaced before the start of the fall 2006 semester.
Latin Professor Joan Hart-Hasler was the only teacher the department was unable to replace in time for the fall semester, so Latin classes had to be cancelled for fall 2006, O'Donnell said. Corvalan said another Latin professor has been hired, however, for the spring 2007 semester.
The members of the department declined to provide the name of the new Latin professor. Corvalan, however, described this new adjunct as "very qualified." In addition, professors were hired for Italian and Spanish positions. Members of the department also declined to provide the names of these professors.
The department currently has 18 adjuncts and four full-time professors, said Mary O'Donnell, department associate. Latin classes were cancelled due to the professors leaving, but will resume in the spring 2007 semester.
Emily Thompson, an associate French professor said it's difficult to keep adjuncts and develop curriculum in new languages, such as Mandarin Chinese, because adjuncts aren't paid full salary if their classes have less than seven students.
Languages that are new to the department tend to have low enrollment for the first few semesters, which makes it more difficult to keep adjuncts for those classes, Thompson said.
Thompson said the department relies heavily on adjuncts.
"It had us kind of scrambling to find qualified people to replace them," Thompson said. "It's something we always fear in a department with a lot of adjuncts."
Department Chairwoman Graciela Corvalan said the professors leaving didn't negatively affect the department, and new professors have been hired to fill their roles.
Thompson said the adjunct professors didn't leave the department because of a singular trigger; they each left for different personal reasons.
Two of the adjunct professors left to take full-time positions at other institutions, and one left because a spouse's job was transferred, Corvalan said. Annalise Brody and Melanie Butler, both adjuncts that left the department, were replaced before the start of the fall 2006 semester.
Latin Professor Joan Hart-Hasler was the only teacher the department was unable to replace in time for the fall semester, so Latin classes had to be cancelled for fall 2006, O'Donnell said. Corvalan said another Latin professor has been hired, however, for the spring 2007 semester.
The members of the department declined to provide the name of the new Latin professor. Corvalan, however, described this new adjunct as "very qualified." In addition, professors were hired for Italian and Spanish positions. Members of the department also declined to provide the names of these professors.
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