Failure to replace retiring full-time instructors erodes strength of college

We at The Advocate feel that recently the number of full time instructors for specific programs has been dwindling and this is a problem.

We bring this up because at the end of this year Genesis director Dave Barduhn will be retiring and Jazz band director Susie Jones retired at the end of fall term. In the last few years we’ve also lost journalism instructor and adviser Bob Watkins, planetarium director Doug McCarty and theater director Rick Zimmer.

As of now the Genesis program will cease to exist at MHCC when Barduhn is officially retired at the end of the term. Barduhn was quoted in a May 11, 2012 Advocate article as saying “I don’t see that there’s a will to replace my position anyway. They haven’t even committed to replacing Susie’s position. In fact, quite frankly, I think it will be quite some time, if ever, that they replace either one of our spots,” he said.

Barduhn has been a presence on campus for many years and with his retirement the Genesis program will diminish. As did the Jazz band when Jones retired.

In the same article, Barduhn said one of the main changes he has seen on campus is that the college used to be known for having specialized programs not available at other community colleges.

“So we were not the generic, cookie-cutter ‘let’s just get our (gen. ed. classes) and be done.’ It was about the special unique programs. That’s what drew students here. That’s what made it possible to recruit students here. Today, more than half of this place is dedicated to trying to make up for things kids didn’t accomplish in high school. This place really isn’t about special programs anymore. It’s all about being a bridge between unsuccessful high school careers and trying to potentially get them prepared to go on to a four-year school. So that image has drastically changed over all these years,” said Barduhn in the article.

Journalism instructor and adviser to The Advocate, Bob Watkins, retired at the end of the 2010 winter term and has since taught a few courses as a part time instructor during winter term and continued to advise The Advocate. Part-time instructors are also currently being used to fill his position.
Eric Tschuy, dean of humanities said, “It is being negotiated within the faculty association and deans as to the nature to replace Mr. Watkins.”
According to Tschuy, the replacement of the full-time journalism position will not happen this September; his expectation is it will happen in September 2013.

The controversy over whether to replace the position or not has been, “a pretty big issue within the department and the Integrated Media department,” Tschuy said.

Doug McCarty who was the former full-time planetarium director retired at the end of the 2010 school year and full-time theater instructor Rick Zimmer retired around the same time. Both positions have yet to be replaced with a full time position. There is currently only one full time faculty teaching theater, Daryl Harrison-Carson. McCarty’s position was replaced with a part time position, Pat Hanrahan.

However, in an all-staff email sent Monday by theater instructor Daryl Harrison-Carson, she said ” We will soon be adding a new full-time instructor to our department, which will help MHCC Theatre grow.” This position seems to be an anomaly in recent MHCC hiring.

In the 2012-2013 proposed budget President Michael Hay states “I hope to have the benefit of the one-time savings by holding open a certain number of full-time faculty positions.” The proposed budget implies that holding positions open will help the college meet the 2012-2013 shortfall. Though the administration has not made it clear which positions it intends to keep open due to budget, it is clear that the aforementioned programs aren’t getting the funding they need.

We at the paper are concerned that valuable programs are not being given the resources they need in a time when recruitment and retention needs are at their highest. How do we expect to attract and keep students when the special programs that make MHCC special aren’t being fully supported by the administration.

When only one or two of these five full-time positions is being filled, students are being cheated out of having experienced and committed full-time instructors who are so integral to a successful program.

The Advocate recommends that the budget committee and administration take a long look at the trade-offs they are making in not replacing faculty for special programs and the impact that it will have on students for years to come.