Faculty lost; education suffers
Published: Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Updated: Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Strips of torn tape and nail holes on pale yellow walls decorate the empty half of an office about the size of a dorm room.
Midway down a row of offices in Trinity Hall, history Professor Timothy Sistrunk, shares space with an empty desk.
Last semester his colleague and friend Robert Archer, who shared an office with him for more than 14 years, was not re-assigned.
In another department, religious studies Professor Tom Parker retired after learning he would not be re-appointed.
Like Parker and Archer, Sistrunk is part of the adjunct faculty whose positions were never guaranteed and until last fall, it was not a big issue.
As California universities adjust to sparse budgets, temporary faculty is the first group of people hit.
“Far and away it’s the worst it’s been,” Parker said.
When people started talking about layoffs of temporary faculty, Parker and his colleagues thought it was a joke, he said.
There is no way the college can function without temporary faculty, he said.
More than 100 lecturers lost and counting
Chico State lost 108 temporary faculty starting fall semester, according to data reported by the California Faculty Association.
