Beneath Renee Major’s George H. Deer Distinguished Teaching Award from spring 2010 hangs two letters.
Major, a University English instructor and associate director of University Writing, ironically received the first of the two letters in January 2010. It was a letter notifying her of termination in January 2011. The second letter was received in September — it deferred her termination six months until August 2011.
While news of grim letters like Major’s has spread across the University, instructors and professors alike have become worried about the education that students will receive in the future — and there’s also resentment toward the missing man in control: Gov. Bobby Jindal.
First, let’s look at University instructors’ and professors’ concerns toward the future of higher education.
With all English instructors receiving letters of contract nonrenewal, Major feels like the University is taking “a large core of instructors who have taught for many years” and essentially is defining them as “newly hired employees.”
She doesn’t a see bright future when even the most experienced instructors are at risk of being cut. And with the best at risk of losing their jobs, she’s concerned about the future for the students.
Major said the University won’t “be able to draw on an experienced, stable workforce” to teach the most basic fundamentals that every major needs across the board: 1000- and 2000-level writing courses taught mainly by instructors.
In most cases, instructors teach four small 1000- and 2000-level classes each semester. Professors teach two upper-level classes and perform research.
Dr. Lisi Oliver, English professor, says if the contracts aren’t renewed, two things can happen: the University ceases to teach writing, or writing will be taught by professors who aren’t trained to do so.
But if professors are forced to teach writing, she said they would be taken away from the 3000- and 4000-level courses they normally teach, thus creating a situation where students wouldn’t be able to graduate on time because classes wouldn’t be offered.
Even if only some of the instructors are cut, class sizes would increase, making grading essays a near impossible task. Either way, both instructors and professors would find themselves in a rut.
While criticism can be sent toward University administrators for having to distribute the letters, both Oliver and Major feel the problem may have been eased if Jindal handled the budget crisis within higher education.
“What [Jindal has] allowed to happen is a systematic dismantling of LSU,” Oliver said.
One of the most important purposes of the University is to conduct research and educate students, Oliver said. She added that if professors had to teach basic writing courses instead of doing research, the University would lose its status as a Tier One institution.
“The situation [Jindal has] put us into is threatening to get good faculty picked off,” Oliver said regarding Jindal’s time spent campaigning in other states instead of focusing on the future of higher education in his own state. “He’s basically establishing a situation in which students can’t get the same education he got.”
In light of the losses our University may receive, Jindal said in a news conference that the state doesn’t need “whining,” and officials will have to perform better with less money.
Aside from insulting his constituents, Jindal “is treating us like spoiled children asking for things we don’t deserve,” Major said.
And truth be told, our “pseudo governor,” as Oliver refers to him, has done just that. He has created a situation within our University in which the students may suffer — a situation that puts our vastly important instructors on the chopping block while creating a state of affairs that would cause professors to teach classes they aren’t trained to teach. Taking them away from research and upper-level classes will only decrease graduation rates.
What Jindal has done is left his taxpaying constituents in the dust as he endlessly campaigns around the country. After telling us to stop “whining,” Jindal flew to Pittsburgh.
“What concerns me the most is that I see the letter on my wall and realize [the instructors] are on a semester-by-semester employment though we’re promised to the students for a full year. … That’s a lie. The state government has a lot to do with the situation the University’s in,” Major said.
The situation our state government has put us in is a grim one. With our “pseudo governor” nowhere to be found, the future of the University lies in question. But if students and faculty use action together, maybe our governor will listen to our “whining” and come to help — and stay in Louisiana.
Chris Grillot is a 19-year-old mass communication and English sophomore from New Orleans. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_Cgrillot.
 
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Contact Chris Grillot at [email protected]