Teaching ought to be the backbone of UCLA’s mission as a world-class public university. Considering that, it is saddening to see the university fire four respected lecturers, known as stellar instructors by their students.
Laying off lecturers is nothing new in the College of Letters and Science, but the newest batch of pink slips in the English and women’s studies departments comes as the university is buckling down for 1,300 more freshman admits than last year ““ the largest freshman class to date. More students and fewer teachers is a formula that simply cannot work.
By accepting more students this year, UCLA looks to slightly increase the size of its wallet. But it also must figure out how to accommodate the large influx of undergraduates. With resources already stretched to their limit, the solution for some departments has been to expand core classes at the expense of elective courses.
Upon graduating from the university, students will seldom reflect upon their undergraduate experiences with images of lower-division requirement courses. Instead, they’ll remember their most compelling instructors, including those the university is laying off this year.
Firing lecturers is nothing new, but this board especially deplores a decision to do so at a time when more ““ not fewer ““ teachers will be required. The principle of this contradicts the university’s repeated claims that in slimming its operations, it is not sacrificing quality of education.
Many departments are looking to hire more graduate students to teach core classes and sections. Graduate students are paid less than lecturers and professors and receive fewer benefits, which saves the university money.
While the size of next year’s incoming class creates a legitimate need for more core classes for the sciences and writing classes to fulfill freshman requirements, simply increasing the number of instructors for these courses should not balance out terminating the positions of some of UCLA’s brightest professors.
The English department, for instance, has eliminated some honors and upper division elective courses to reallocate resources for core classes. Eight to nine lecturers who taught these courses have been let go in the past three years.
While there is a benefit to having graduate students teaching more classes, namely, smaller courses and instructors who more recently shared the experiences of undergraduates, the variety of course offerings is still decreasing.
For the moment, the university is doing everything it can to not have to hire more professors. But UCLA’s research and educational reputation is founded in the strength of its faculty. We understand the financial crunch the university is in, but we hope this model does not become a permanent one.