The date Jan. 21, 2011, will mean different things for different people. But for 14 University instructors, it will be the last day they are employed by the University.
The amount saved by the University for this mid-year firing in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures: $270,000 for this spring.
The reasons for isolating the firings to the foreign language department: unknown.
The University sent out 240 letters warning of layoffs in February. And of these 240, only 14 were enforced. Of these, all 14 took place within foreign languages.
This is not breaking news, as they were told of their imminent and dismal futures several weeks ago. But what might be considered worthy of decent syndication is these 14 instructors have rigorously pursued answers regarding their situation and have found no remedy from University administration.
“The foreign language 14,” as they’ve come to be known, sought a meeting with Chancellor Michael Martin to discuss their programs’ futures and sudden termination. But on Monday afternoon, they learned through e-mail that their request had been denied. They were instead referred to the Office of Academic Affairs and were told to meet with Vice Provost and executive vice chancellor Jane Cassidy.
Yesterday afternoon, three axed foreign language instructors (representing “the 14”), myself, two other Daily Reveille employees and Cassidy sat down to discuss the recent cuts.
And while Cassidy was indeed a generous hostess and made herself available to them for as long as they needed, she also made it abundantly clear she had no answers for the laid-off instructors.
As I sat in on this meeting, several incongruities stuck out.
First, why would the chancellor refuse to meet with these instructors and rather send them to someone unable to answer their questions? Cassidy did not know the answer to this either, though she did remark, “[Chancellor Martin] is so busy.” From the interviews I’ve been privileged to have with these instructors thus far, all of their motives are founded in their students’ futures — which the University is supposed to be as well, I think.
Second, these 14 instructors each earned an average of $35,000 a year, with many earning less. If one were to total all of their yearly salaries, they don’t add up to much more than the chancellor’s salary at $400,000. It was actually quite disturbing to see a $400,000 a year employee (Martin) tell an $88,000 a year employee (Cassidy) to tell 14 $35,000 a year employees they were too expensive for the University to keep.
Third, the question no one has yet been able to answer: Why were these instructors axed in the middle of the academic year, putting themselves and their students’ academic careers in severe hardship?
Finally and perhaps most significantly: The Foreign Language Department was told to cut $700,000 for the spring semester. These 14 firings account for a total savings of $270,000 — where’s the rest?
It was rather heartbreaking to hear these dedicated teachers, who had put their students first and themselves last throughout the meeting, ask “what are we supposed to do now?” There are no other institutions of higher learning that teach these classical languages within driving distance of Baton Rouge. Some of these instructors have mortgages, others have families and all have spent their lives rigorously pursuing their passions for teaching and language — though all will be jobless come Jan. 21, 2011.
The meeting culminated anticlimactically, with a final question coming from the instructors asking, “If we were to obtain corporate funding, could we stay employed?”
The response from Cassidy was one of uncertainty — no big surprise there.
These heroic professors have experienced the bureaucracy that is the University at its finest, being directed to dead ends repeatedly. They have fought hard thus far and will continue to fight for their students’ well being — even as their efforts are cast aside by University administration.
I eagerly await the answers to these questions — and rest assured they will be published in this very spot when they are made known by those who have fired “the foreign language 14.”
Andrew Robertson is a 23-year-old English writing and culture senior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_Arobertson.
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Contact Andrew Robertson at [email protected]