THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 2, 1994 TAG: 9409020605
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
Old Dominion University has raised teaching loads nearly 10 percent, so that faculty members must teach an average of three courses per semester, says a report released by the school Thursday.
Provost Jo Ann Gora said that after studying workloads last year, officials found a small number of faculty members who weren't teaching three classes. ``Sometimes there was a real good explanation; sometimes there wasn't,'' she said.
With the increase in class assignments, teaching loads rose by 8.5 percent this year, the university said in a ``restructuring'' report submitted to state officials Thursday.
Last year, a computer analysis by The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star found that ODU faculty from five departments taught an average of 2 2/3 courses a semester. Faculty at the University of Virginia averaged slightly less than two courses.
ODU has begun requiring department chairmen to teach two to three courses per semester, up from one to two, Gora said. Old Dominion has also reduced ``release time'' from teaching for research projects that haven't won outside funding and for administrative duties, such as serving as graduate program director.
The State Council of Higher Education has prodded colleges to take such steps.
But the state's efforts initially sparked an outcry at larger universities, such as U.Va. and Virginia Tech. Faculty members there said that research was a crucial component of their work and that nonfunded research, often in the humanities, was no less important than scientific research.
Gora said: ``It is important that every faculty member do research. Research enhances teaching. The question is whether you can permit them to teach fewer students in order to engage in this activity.''
She said the changes will save the university money by reducing the need to hire part-time teachers.
``We're trying to serve our students more effectively,'' Gora said. ``We'd like to deploy our diminishing faculty resources as effectively as possible. That's the good we hope will come out of this process.''
But Ann Schwarz-Miller, an associate professor of economics, said there could be dangers.
``The problem with it is: As long as most universities follow an emphasis on research, people will find that teaching more courses will make them less competitive,'' she said. ``It will drive people with a lot of potential away from the university as long as we are doing this in isolation from a majority of high-ranking universities. Some of the people who left this year fell into this category.''
Golda Cohen, a senior majoring in interdisciplinary studies, applauded the move: ``Professors, for the most part, are not around when you need them anyway.''
Teri Mammaril, a senior in electrical engineering, thought it would benefit students, but she added: ``By increasing the faculty workload, professors won't be able to do their research. . . . If there's not enough research, then that will cut government grants and other sources of revenue for the university.''
In the report, ODU also said it had dropped nearly 500 low-enrollment courses, had increased advising duties of professors and would save $500,000 by privatizing some operations.
Norfolk State University, in its study, said it had dropped all classes with fewer than 10 students and would increase the use of technology. Norfolk State, like ODU, said it would ask administrators to teach more courses and would slightly reduce the number of credits required for graduation.
NSU had increased faculty teaching loads from four to five courses a semester after the state began cutting colleges' budgets in 1990. But President Harrison B. Wilson has said Norfolk State had to rescind the increase because professors were ``burning out.''
U.Va.'s report did not promise that professors would teach more classes. But it said it was dropping small classes and reducing graduate school enrollment so faculty would spend more of their time teaching undergraduates.
Legislators, irked by what they saw as colleges' resistance to streamline operations, are requiring universities to submit restructuring reports this year and next fall. If the state finds next year that a school hasn't made enough progress, the college could lose 1.5 percent of its state aid.
State officials said it was too early to evaluate the reports, but they said they have been pleased with what they have seen. MEMO: Campus correspondent Jimmy Gnass contributed to this story. by CNB