SUU faculty
pull the load
Because of cut after cut in the budget, SUU is without
a lot of luxuries this year, but one thing the administration
made certain to keep intact was our faculty. We applaud
that decision and the effort behind it.
While there has been discussion on campus about faculty
overload, most of the discussion has focused on the number
of classes each professor is required to teach and class
preparation time.
We believe the faculty at SUU serve a much more crucial
role in the lives of students than solely giving lectures
and grading tests.
While it may be true our professors teach the average
number of classes as other universities our size, we want
to emphasize that classes aren’t the only task faculty
perform at SUU. We believe a large part of education can
be better taught outside of the classroom and feel there
is none better to do it than our professors.
We believe nothing students can do in a classroom setting
can better prepare them for life than actually getting
out into the world and experiencing the things they talk
about in class.
Currently, students can get “real world” experience
through clubs and other campus organizations such as SUUSA,
and the student advertising agency (the Centurium Consulting
Group), as well as service learning and off-campus courses.
We hope even as we lose staff, and professors find themselves
having to pick up some of that slack, we will not lose
but obtain more opportunities to participate in these
activities.
While professors are not given lower course loads or merit
pay based solely on their involvement in clubs or other
organizations, each club is required to have an academic
adviser. We agree with this method as clubs should be
based on educational material, but believe it leads to
the overloading of popular professors, as not all professors
are required to act as advisers.
In addition, there can only be as many clubs as we have
faculty to advise them. The more time professors are required
to work in the classroom, the less time they have for
outside advising
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and the less options students have for life experience.
We believe classes also can suffer from professors having
too much on their plate, as things like service learning
and off-campus experiences bring concepts home but take
more time and effort.
Another role, and perhaps the most important to some students,
is that of mentor. We feel it is important for students
to have someone they can turn to for advice on all sorts
of topics from graduate schools and job placement, to social
and community issues.
We want the professors at SUU to know that we value their
time and commitment and urge the legislature and those otherwise
in authority over Utah higher education to do the same.
The opinion expressed above is the collective opinion of
the University Journal and its editorial board. The editorial
board meets every Wednesday at 11 a.m. in Room 172 of the
Sharwan Smith Center. Visitors are welcome.
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