When English majors received the course listing for the upcoming fall semester, there were several conspicuous absences. Three full time professors were gone from the list: Dr. Linda Shires, Dr. Lee Manion, and Dr. Abigail Manzella. Only five full time professors were left. Of the literature courses being offered (aside from mandatory classes), most of the courses had been offered in the previous three semesters, leaving very limited selection for upperclassmen. Noted English major Zahava Rothschild, Stern ’13, “Apparently there isn’t enough of a variety to carry me through three and a half years of studying literature.” While there were two Honors courses being offered, both were introductory level courses, leaving options further limited for Honors students. The only advanced course being offered was to be taught by visiting English Department Chair of YC, Dr. Adam Zachary Newton.
English majors were hard-pressed not to ask: what’s happening to our English Department?
Outside of the sciences and psychology, English is one of the most popular majors. There are currently between 55 and 60 declared English majors. This is significantly larger than YC’s English Department, which currently has between 20 and 30 majors. Despite this disparity, YC continues to have a larger department, with more full time professors and course offerings. YC, however, is also facing a “straitened personnel situation,” according to Dr. Newton.
As previously disclosed by The Observer, Drs. Abby Manzella and Lee Manion (married) have chosen to leave Stern College permanently, despite Dr. Manion’s tenure-track appointment and would-be tenure consideration coming up in 2014. Dr. Manzella had a 3-year visiting appointment (2011-14). Instead, Dr. Manion will be a fellow at the National Humanities Center, after which both will be assuming positions in the English Department at the University of Missouri.
“Though I am excited to pursue new opportunities at the University of Missouri, I will definitely miss the engagement, dynamism, and talent of the many Stern students I have taught and mentored over the past five years,” said Dr. Manion. Noted Dr. Manzella, “I have greatly enjoyed my time at Stern…It was a pleasure.”
Dr. Linda Shires, co-Chair of the department, will be taking a one-year research sabbatical next year.
These new losses are particularly sensitive in light of the loss last year of Dr. Kim Evans, despite large-scale student protests including a petition letter written to President Joel and Provost Lowengrub with over 360 student signatures. Dr. Kim Evans was invited to Stern in 2008 on a ‘short-clock’ tenure track before being denied tenure with little explanation after a process lasting 23 months.
Are there plans to fill these newly vacated positions?
While it is a department’s responsibility to make a hiring proposal, the Provost and Dean decide about the necessity of further hiring and about which departments get hires. A hire is a lengthy process: if the administration agrees to the need for a hire, the Provost would first approve a national search, which can take eight months after an ad is placed.
According to Provost Lowengrub, retiring at the end of this year, no recommendations have yet been brought. However, Dr. Shires filed a request with Dean Bacon to approve two full-time tenure track faculty members to begin in fall 2014. Recruiting, according to Dean Bacon, would take place during the 2013-2014 academic year.
Said Dean Bacon, “I have not yet had a budget discussion with Dr. Lowengrub to see if this request can be approved…To the extent that these requests can be included in the budget and that they meet our long-range goals, they are approved. Dr. Shires’ requests will be considered seriously.
In the meantime, adjunct professors are filling the needed positions. Melissa Dennihy and Gina Grimaldi will be teaching mandatory Level II Survey courses.
While both Professors Dennihy and Grimaldi have taught higher-level courses before, there is a significant difference between a full time tenure-track or tenured professor and an adjunct. A tenure-track or tenured professor works full time at one institution. He or she normally has a doctorate in the field. Receiving a set salary, benefit packages (including a retirement plan), and job stability, such persons are long-term investments on the part of the institution.
Adjuncts, on the other hand, are usually hired by universities by the term, not the year, and usually only for a course or two per term. Balancing multiple occupations simultaneously, their commitment to the University is far from exclusive. An adjunct additionally does not have the same level of academic experience as a full time tenure-track professor. Adjuncts usually hold a master’s degree or some equivalent. While a doctorate in English generally takes 4-8 years to earn, a master’s degree is normally obtained in 1-2 years. Both Professors Dennihy and Grimaldi currently hold master’s degrees and are en-route to PhDs in English Literature.
Professors have the option to share their curriculum vitae (CV), listing their accumulated academic history and accomplishments, on the YU website. This information allows the general public to view a professor’s experience and credentials. Not all professors, however, select to share this information. In the faculty listing for the English Department, none of the adjunct professors have shared their CVs.
While this could be an administrative oversight, Amy Sullivan, institutional researcher at the Provost’s office, said the information is not listed because “not all faculty members elect to do this.”
Said one English major who prefers to remain anonymous, “Students have a right to know the credentials of their professors. Our education, not to mention tuition dollars, is in the hands of these individuals – we should at least have the right to know their qualifications.”
Despite concerns, there have been some auspicious changes to the English Department. Dr. Adam Zachary Newton, chair of the English Department uptown, will be teaching for the first time on the Beren campus. His course, “Channeling Bruno Schulz: A Writer, His Fiction, and His Fictionalizers,” is a course in comparative literature and (mostly) Jewish writers. It is the only advanced course being offered at Stern during the fall semester. “It’s a course I would have taught at YC had that opportunity presented itself, since I’ve made a point of developing new classes almost every academic year,” said Dr. Newton.
With budgets tight and resources limited, is this exchange of faculty members between departments a harbinger for the future? Other departments, such as the History Department, liberally share faculty members between campuses. The English Department has done so in the past: Dr. Richard L. Nochimson of YC used to teach at Stern and Dr. Weidhorn of Stern is currently teaching at YC. Is this a trend the University is hoping to encourage?
Said Dean Bacon, “Sharing faculty in always on our agenda.”
Hannah Rozenblat, sixth semester English Literature major, has been “satisfied” with her choice of major. “There have been many interesting and informative classes that I’m glad I had the opportunity to take,” she said. However, these recent changes have made her concerned – not just for herself, but for future Stern students. Concluded Rozenblat, “I don’t know whether the future is bright for English majors.”