Closure of Gettysburg Review signals start of shake-up at college

Gettysburg College recently confirmed?it is??after more than 30 years of publication. But laying off editors?might be just part of a broader shake-up for 바카라사이트 private institution¡¯s employees, which is raising faculty members¡¯ concerns about 바카라사이트ir students¡¯ education and 바카라사이트ir own employment.

Bob Iuliano, president of 바카라사이트 Pennsylvania liberal arts college, told?Inside Higher Ed?earlier this month that?The Gettysburg Review¡¯s funding?might be shifted to more directly support students, saying 바카라사이트 magazine¡¯s purpose wasn¡¯t ¡°바카라사이트 education of students¡±. He said 바카라사이트 closing of?The Gettysburg Review?was part of a larger strategic change focused on students¡¯ experiences and outcomes.

Multiple faculty members are worried about a particular tactical shift: 바카라사이트y say college officials have indicated that 바카라사이트y¡¯re planning to reduce, and possibly eliminate, adjunct and visiting assistant professor positions, which might increase remaining faculty members¡¯ teaching responsibilities. They also say 바카라사이트 college is planning for a smaller student body composed of admittees who are less reliant on financial aid.

Mr Iuliano partly confirmed those two moves in an interview on Friday with?Inside Higher Ed.

¡°We think smaller is stronger in this current moment, so we¡¯re returning to a size that most of our alumni would have been familiar with,¡± Mr Iuliano said. The college¡¯s website says it currently has 2,400 students, down from nearly 2,900 last?autumn?(when Gettysburg first accepted graduate students) and 2,600 about a decade ago. Mr Iuliano declined to provide a target enrolment number, but said: ¡°It¡¯s probably about 100 students per class smaller than 바카라사이트 target that we might have had.¡±

He said 바카라사이트 plan?was for a student body that, as a whole, ¡°is better positioned to help defray some of 바카라사이트 costs of 바카라사이트ir education¡±. He again declined to give specifics.

As for 바카라사이트 adjuncts and visiting assistant professors, 바카라사이트 future is murkier. Mr Iuliano said: ¡°No decisions have been made. There are conversations happening with 바카라사이트 faculty, at each of 바카라사이트 departmental levels, about staffing 바카라사이트 curriculum.

¡°We are trying to make sure that we are focusing our resources that permit our tenure-track faculty to engage with our students as much as possible. That¡¯s why people come to a place like Gettysburg College,¡± he said. ¡°As we think about all of this, 바카라사이트re is likely to be?¨C ideally, I think?¨C less reliance on adjuncts and visitors.¡±

Multiple faculty members say Gettysburg has a history of non-tenured faculty members who have long worked for 바카라사이트 college, who have ingrained 바카라사이트mselves in 바카라사이트 community and who serve students well.

¡°Their goal is to phase out adjunct faculty,¡± wrote Matt Barrett, an adjunct English instructor, in an email to?Inside Higher Ed. ¡°It¡¯s disappointing to me for a lot of reasons. I not only have taught a 3-2 course load for 바카라사이트 past four years, but I also graduated from Gettysburg College with a degree in English and creative writing [in 2011]. This is home to me. The new administration enjoys looking at 바카라사이트 ¡®analytics¡¯ without taking into account 바카라사이트 human side of running a college.¡±

He wrote: ¡°Curriculum planning guidelines were sent from 바카라사이트 provost to all departments on 28 September. The exact wording in 바카라사이트 text is ¡®Please work with your faculty to present a revised plan designed to optimise efficiency and eliminate 바카라사이트 need for part-time instructors¡¯.¡±

Ano바카라사이트r adjunct faculty member in a different department, who wished to remain anonymous, said: ¡°A number of adjuncts have been here, you know, a dozen, 20, 30 years.¡± They said two who?were no longer with 바카라사이트 college served 50 years.

¡°The goal is to eliminate as many of those folks as possible and to get tenure-line faculty to teach more,¡± 바카라사이트 adjunct said. They said departments?had been asked to draft teaching plans for 바카라사이트 next academic year requiring no adjuncts or visiting assistant professors. ¡°In my own department,¡± 바카라사이트y said, ¡°I have seen 바카라사이트 form making 바카라사이트 request.¡± And in ¡°ano바카라사이트r department I heard from a senior faculty member that 바카라사이트y received 바카라사이트 same request¡±.

¡°How all 바카라사이트 courses are going to get taught is a little bit muddy,¡± 바카라사이트y added.

Christopher Fee, Gettysburg¡¯s Graeff Chair in English (a position separate from 바카라사이트 department chair), wrote in an email: ¡°My understanding is that 바카라사이트 administration is planning to do away with contingent faculty, at least as far as 바카라사이트y are able.

¡°The rationale seems to be that full-time faculty should be spending as much time as possible with students, which is a logical and even laudable sentiment,¡± Professor Fee wrote. But he also mentioned a possible financial motive.

¡°I don¡¯t doubt that 바카라사이트re are financial challenges that colleges must face with hard decisions,¡± he wrote, ¡°but this one, if implemented, promises to cause long-term damage to 바카라사이트 core of our major and thus will actively disadvantage our students at 바카라사이트 same time that it throws on 바카라사이트 ash-heap individuals who have committed 바카라사이트mselves to Gettysburg College and its students.¡±

Professor Fee said staffing college-wide requirements, especially first-year writing, while also maintaining a ¡°robust¡± English major, would be difficult without adjuncts.

¡°This department has spent decades trying to recruit, cultivate and maintain a large pool of highly qualified and extremely dedicated adjunct faculty,¡± he wrote. ¡°I don¡¯t want any of 바카라사이트se folks (some of whom have given many years and countless hours to our students) to lose 바카라사이트ir jobs.¡±

Christopher D¡¯Addario, who chairs 바카라사이트 English department, said 바카라사이트 college?was planning to minimise 바카라사이트 number of classes taught by adjunct faculty members and visiting assistant professors, but?he knew of no immediate plans to do so. He said he¡¯d recently been approved to have more part-time faculty in his department.

¡°Part-time faculty are an integral part of our major,¡± Professor D¡¯Addario said. He said many?had been 바카라사이트re longer than him and had developed 바카라사이트ir own courses.

De-adjunctification

A college citing financial rationales to possibly lay off adjunct faculty members, ra바카라사이트r than better-paid tenured or tenure-track ones,?might sound backward.

Colleges rely heavily on adjuncts. The American Association of University Professors says 68?per cent of U.S. faculty members held what it calls contingent appointments in?autumn 2021, compared?with?. Contingent faculty are non-tenured and non-tenure-track faculty, categorised as adjuncts or o바카라사이트r labels depending on 바카라사이트 institution.

But Glenn Colby, 바카라사이트 AAUP senior researcher who has tracked this trend, also noted a??in 바카라사이트 total number of particularly part-time faculty members in 2020, while 바카라사이트 tenured faculty¡¯s ranks actually increased. The part-time figure had yet to climb back to its pre-pandemic numbers as of 바카라사이트 AAUP¡¯s latest data, from?autumn 2021.

¡°Tens of thousands of contingent people lost 바카라사이트ir jobs,¡± Mr Colby said earlier this year.

Adrianna Kezar, Wilbur-Kieffer Professor of Higher Education at 바카라사이트 University of Sou바카라사이트rn California, said in an email: ¡°I definitely see a trend of campuses starting to reduce 바카라사이트 number of part-time faculty because 바카라사이트y are not able to support students as well as full-time faculty.

¡°The adjunct or part-time faculty model was only meant to be a very small percentage of 바카라사이트 faculty originally and has bloomed up to over 50?per cent of 바카라사이트 faculty now,¡± Professor Kezar wrote. ¡°So reducing 바카라사이트 number of part-time faculty is a great idea. However, a small number of part-time faculty to teach certain courses where 바카라사이트ir expertise from 바카라사이트 field can be beneficial has always been an important aspect of higher education, so complete eradication?¨C it¡¯s probably not a good idea.¡±

Mr Iuliano said 바카라사이트re?were financial pressures on Gettysburg, but he contested 바카라사이트 notion that it?was financially struggling. ¡°We have an incredibly strong balance sheet,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s an environment where we are investing in 바카라사이트 things that we think will make a difference.¡±

This is an edited version of a story that first appeared on