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Yahoo!When I came to UCSB in 1986 as a newly minted PhD, I thought I was the luckiest assistant professor in the country. Until a year ago, that original thrill never wore off. I loved the fact that the UC offered affordable access to everyone who met its rigorous entrance requirements. I loved the fact that, in my department at least, we demanded critical, original thinking even in our lower-division freshman courses. I loved the stellar quality of my colleagues and their research. And I loved the fact that as a mentor of doctoral candidates I had the privilege of working with the best and the brightest students anywhere in the country.
In the past year it has become apparent that most of what I loved about my job is slipping away. Deep cuts in funds for recruiting graduate students seriously threaten our future as a first-tier research university. And because graduate-student teaching assistants form an integral part of our undergraduate teaching mission, the quality of undergraduate education is seriously compromised. Departments across the system have been forced to eliminate discussion sections from large freshman classes; professors feel compelled to eliminate assignments that teach analytical skills rather than rote learning. But until this month—when the office of the UC President released its “charge” for commission on the future of the UC—I would never have dreamed that we would be asked to consider cost-cutting measures, such as online classes, that would completely dilute the quality of education that we stand for.
In the meantime, the governor’s long-term agenda of withdrawing state funds from the UC is forcing students to work long hours and assume crushing levels of debt. The question is: Will those who govern California and its system of higher education act quickly enough to bring their agendas into compliance with the will of the people, who support publicly funded education by a ratio of two to one? If not, it will only take a few years for the university to become an empty shell. Most faculty in the system are looking hard at jobs in other states. I myself have come to the conclusion that I would rather change professions than stick around and watch the deliberate dismantling of the best public research university in the history of this country. — Sharon Farmer, professor of history
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Sharon Farmer has eloquently expressed sentiments I share as her colleague in another department. Thank you Sharon and thank you SB INDEPENDENT for letting the public know of this dire situation threatening one of our state's greatest assets. Janet Walker, Professor of Film and Media Studies, UCSB.
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jwalker (anonymous profile)
October 30, 2009 at 6:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Since the time that we first began to withdraw funding from public education, the nation has gotten more and more stupid. When I graduated from my very diverse public high school it was unimaginable that any of my peers might be functionally illiterate. I'd read Edmund Spenser and had mastered Boolean algebra. As soon as the nation began to feel that there were indeed things that were too good for our schoolchildren (falling prey to the childish nightmare that "our" money was supporting "other" people's children), scores began to worsen, as did verbal and critical competence. Now we are a nation of nincompoops--salesclerks who can't put the phrase "good morning" together, television producers who can't spell despite the fact that it is apparently a job requirement. This is NOT rocket science. Classes need to be small, teachers need to be properly qualified in the fields they teach, classrooms need to be in decent condition, books and supplies and computers readily available. That's it! Audit away! find the "waste" and inefficiency all you want! Once a year if it makes you feel better! Just fund your future--which, in truth, is only a couple of weeks away. If you only knew it.
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AnnieVarga (anonymous profile)
October 31, 2009 at 11:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
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