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The Muse Volume 56, Number 10 general@themuse.ca November 17, 2005 Province, university at odds over Grenfell By Alex Bill The debate over autonomy for Sir Wilfred Grenfell College in Corner Brook will soon take a new turn, as the college has recently laid its "expectations for change" with Memorial University. Those demands include some straightforward issues, such as the authority to approve programs and the integration of the Western Regional School of Nursing into the college. But, there are more contentious is sues, such as placing a Grenfell representative on the university's senior executive committee and gaining financial security through formula funding or a direct allocation of money from government. Axel Meisen, president of Memorial University, says the expectations are reasonable and that he will discuss them with the Board of Regents on Dec. 7. "Some of the expectations are matters that the Board will really need to become engaged in, and other matters are different," said Meisen. He says the physical separation must be settled to create a regional vice-president position for Principal John Ashton on the senior executive committee. At the moment, video-link from Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador is a possibility. Commitment concerns are also an issue. The Board of Regents usually meets for a couple of hours and Meisen says Ashton must dedicate that time "even though many of the issues will not be of primary interest to [him]." But, the president concedes that these reasons are too weak to keep Ashton off the executive. (Currently, Ashton reports to Vice-President Academic Eddy Campbell.) Of all the demands, funding concerns may be the most difficult to settle. Meisen is willing to consider formula funding, but it won't work as well when cutbacks are necessary, whether because of a decline in students or fiscal constraints. He says changes to the funding structure could create further con flict among university institutions and departments as each tries to secure a stronger budget. "Presumably, what would happen in that scenario is that the decisions, with respect to allocating dollars for post-secondary education, are made at a different level and sometimes the pie is only so big," said Meisen. The issue of direct allocation from government is a hot one, especially in light of recent comments by govern- See 'Memorial' on Page 2 Remembering Memorial BAKHTIYAR PEER Hugh Nagle and his son take part in the Remembrance Day activities in downtown St. John's this past Friday. Nagle's father participated in building the National War Memorial in 1924. Remembrance Day ceremonies took on a special atmosphere this year at the university. MUN was built and named as a memorial to the world wars, but this year is also the sixtieth anniversary of the end of World War II, the nationally proclaimed Year of the Veteran, and the eightieth anniversary of the opening of Memorial College. Tenure shortage stunts faculty growth By Katie Hyslop Memorial University has seen a rise in per course and contractual professors, which is causing problems for students writing their master's theses and honours dissertations. A large percentage of MUN professors began teaching during the 1970s and are now approaching retirement age. This follows a nationwide trend of aging faculty in universities and colleges. According to Macleans, enrolment in Canadian universities increased by 50 per cent between 1987 and 2003 while faculty increased by only seven per cent. The science and engineering faculties report no shortage of tenured faculty, but Steven Wolinetz, interim dean of arts, recognizes the increase in retiring professors. Per course and contractual instructors replace these tenured professors, sometimes with contracts as short as four months. "The key issue is something called faculty renewal, or how fast and in what way we replace these people," said Wolinetz. "Whatever rate we are doing that, [it] is not fast enough - we don't always replace everyone who retires." But, Wolinetz believes teaching experience and expertise, not duration of employment, determine the quality of a professor. MUNSU VP Academic Katherine Giroux- Bougard disagrees. "[Tenure profs] permit a certain stability in the department so students from one semester from another can count on a certain professor being there, offering a certain type of course," said Giroux-Bougard. "I think in a lot of the departments, they're relying more and more on per course instructors to teach courses. From my personal experience in some departments, this instability causes - especially third- and fourth-year students - a lot of stress." Giroux-Bougard has received complaints from honours students who have lost supervising professors and were forced to change dissertation topics. One fourth-year political science honours student, who asked not to be named, decided to switch supervising professors and her dissertation topics when she discovered her supervisor may leave. "I had been doing a fair bit of research on my initial topic, but given that this particular professor was perhaps the only professor that we had here on campus that dealt with my specialized topic, apparently I was being too original," she said. "The political science department is being fairly lenient. They understand that this is out of my control, out of my hands, and my new advisor is very understanding." Graduate Students' Union VP Academic Shelley McCarthy has received no similar complaints, but cites her short time in office as an explanation. Yet, she too stresses the importance of tenured professors. "Unfortunately, the university works as a hierarchy, and when it comes to graduate students, tenured professors' references count for more," she said. "It helps a lot when you're looking for ... grad money. [With] a tenured professor, his name [or] her name carries a lot more weight. ... In fact, most graduate students will not study under a non-tenured professor." Not all students with retiring supervisors need to find new ones. Some professors stay on after retirement through honorary research professorships in order to advise students. See 'Students' on Page 4 L
Object Description
Title | The Muse, vol. 56, no. 10 (17 November 2005) |
Date | 17 November 2005 |
Description | The Muse, vol. 56, no. 10 (17 November 2005) |
Type | Text |
Resource Type | Newspaper |
Format | Image/jpeg; Application/pdf |
Language | eng |
Collection | Centre for Newfoundland Studies - Digitized Books |
Source | Paper text held in the Centre for Newfoundland Studies |
Repository | Memorial University of Newfoundland. Libraries. Centre for Newfoundland Studies |
PDF File | (24.23MB) -- http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/muse/TheMusevol56no1017November2005.pdf |
Date created | 2018-06-04 |
Description
Title | Cover |
Description | The Muse, vol. 56, no. 10 (17 November 2005) |
PDF File | (24.23MB) -- http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/muse/TheMusevol56no1017November2005.pdf |
Transcript | The Muse Volume 56, Number 10 general@themuse.ca November 17, 2005 Province, university at odds over Grenfell By Alex Bill The debate over autonomy for Sir Wilfred Grenfell College in Corner Brook will soon take a new turn, as the college has recently laid its "expectations for change" with Memorial University. Those demands include some straightforward issues, such as the authority to approve programs and the integration of the Western Regional School of Nursing into the college. But, there are more contentious is sues, such as placing a Grenfell representative on the university's senior executive committee and gaining financial security through formula funding or a direct allocation of money from government. Axel Meisen, president of Memorial University, says the expectations are reasonable and that he will discuss them with the Board of Regents on Dec. 7. "Some of the expectations are matters that the Board will really need to become engaged in, and other matters are different," said Meisen. He says the physical separation must be settled to create a regional vice-president position for Principal John Ashton on the senior executive committee. At the moment, video-link from Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador is a possibility. Commitment concerns are also an issue. The Board of Regents usually meets for a couple of hours and Meisen says Ashton must dedicate that time "even though many of the issues will not be of primary interest to [him]." But, the president concedes that these reasons are too weak to keep Ashton off the executive. (Currently, Ashton reports to Vice-President Academic Eddy Campbell.) Of all the demands, funding concerns may be the most difficult to settle. Meisen is willing to consider formula funding, but it won't work as well when cutbacks are necessary, whether because of a decline in students or fiscal constraints. He says changes to the funding structure could create further con flict among university institutions and departments as each tries to secure a stronger budget. "Presumably, what would happen in that scenario is that the decisions, with respect to allocating dollars for post-secondary education, are made at a different level and sometimes the pie is only so big," said Meisen. The issue of direct allocation from government is a hot one, especially in light of recent comments by govern- See 'Memorial' on Page 2 Remembering Memorial BAKHTIYAR PEER Hugh Nagle and his son take part in the Remembrance Day activities in downtown St. John's this past Friday. Nagle's father participated in building the National War Memorial in 1924. Remembrance Day ceremonies took on a special atmosphere this year at the university. MUN was built and named as a memorial to the world wars, but this year is also the sixtieth anniversary of the end of World War II, the nationally proclaimed Year of the Veteran, and the eightieth anniversary of the opening of Memorial College. Tenure shortage stunts faculty growth By Katie Hyslop Memorial University has seen a rise in per course and contractual professors, which is causing problems for students writing their master's theses and honours dissertations. A large percentage of MUN professors began teaching during the 1970s and are now approaching retirement age. This follows a nationwide trend of aging faculty in universities and colleges. According to Macleans, enrolment in Canadian universities increased by 50 per cent between 1987 and 2003 while faculty increased by only seven per cent. The science and engineering faculties report no shortage of tenured faculty, but Steven Wolinetz, interim dean of arts, recognizes the increase in retiring professors. Per course and contractual instructors replace these tenured professors, sometimes with contracts as short as four months. "The key issue is something called faculty renewal, or how fast and in what way we replace these people," said Wolinetz. "Whatever rate we are doing that, [it] is not fast enough - we don't always replace everyone who retires." But, Wolinetz believes teaching experience and expertise, not duration of employment, determine the quality of a professor. MUNSU VP Academic Katherine Giroux- Bougard disagrees. "[Tenure profs] permit a certain stability in the department so students from one semester from another can count on a certain professor being there, offering a certain type of course," said Giroux-Bougard. "I think in a lot of the departments, they're relying more and more on per course instructors to teach courses. From my personal experience in some departments, this instability causes - especially third- and fourth-year students - a lot of stress." Giroux-Bougard has received complaints from honours students who have lost supervising professors and were forced to change dissertation topics. One fourth-year political science honours student, who asked not to be named, decided to switch supervising professors and her dissertation topics when she discovered her supervisor may leave. "I had been doing a fair bit of research on my initial topic, but given that this particular professor was perhaps the only professor that we had here on campus that dealt with my specialized topic, apparently I was being too original," she said. "The political science department is being fairly lenient. They understand that this is out of my control, out of my hands, and my new advisor is very understanding." Graduate Students' Union VP Academic Shelley McCarthy has received no similar complaints, but cites her short time in office as an explanation. Yet, she too stresses the importance of tenured professors. "Unfortunately, the university works as a hierarchy, and when it comes to graduate students, tenured professors' references count for more," she said. "It helps a lot when you're looking for ... grad money. [With] a tenured professor, his name [or] her name carries a lot more weight. ... In fact, most graduate students will not study under a non-tenured professor." Not all students with retiring supervisors need to find new ones. Some professors stay on after retirement through honorary research professorships in order to advise students. See 'Students' on Page 4 L |
Date created | 2018-06-04 |