Frequently asked questions about the Spring 2009 Schedule

Q - Should I trust the information in Cougar’s Byte on the new schedule?

A - No, under the guise of being a “student” newspaper, it was created by the administration who objected to negative or critical stories written in the independent paper, The Tower, so that it could control information distributed to students. You will never find anything critical of the administration in the Cougar’s Byte. Its purpose is public relations, not news.

Q - Is anyone really in favor of this new schedule?

A - No one has had the opportunity to voice an honest opinion or participate in an impartial vote. Even though there has been earnest opposition to the schedule by faculty and students, the administration continues to misrepresent them as “being totally supportive” of the schedule, which is utter nonsense. The faculty were told by the Provost that the “discussion is over” and they are ordered to submit and implement the schedule for Spring 2009 by June 23rd.

Q - How will this schedule keep tuition down?

A - It won’t. The University will raise tuition to the limits allowed by the state of New Jersey. It cannot go beyond a certain percentage without incurring penalties from the state. The promise that this will affect tuition rates is to convince the students to support the new schedule.

Q - I don’t understand how a class meeting three times a week for fifty minutes helps save money?

A - It won’t for anyone, most especially students who will spend a great deal of money commuting to campus three times for a class that formerly met met twice a week. Even better would be classes that met once a week. That would, in fact, cut down Kean University’s carbon footprint. USA Today recently published an article on how universities are helping students use gas efficiently by cutting the number of class meetings per week. Kean is adding classes at a time when gas prices are the highest in history. Now students and faculty are driving more to meet for less contact time.

Q - Won’t those MWF classes only affect lower division students?

A - Yes, but in addition, faculty have been told to schedule required classes at 8am, late evening, Fridays and Saturdays. This will ensure enrollment for unpopular times and so students will find themselves taking classes five days a week, not three.

Q - But why do the faculty object? Don’t they just want to be here fewer hours like the administration says?

A - Faculty have to prepare to teach four three hour classes per week, prepare and copy materials, write up assignments, grade papers, prepare and grade tests, supervise labs, meet with students, do advising, attend meetings, attend Open Houses, convocations, commencement, training, write courses, revise curriculum, serve as advisors to clubs, and much more, at a minimum. As faculty employees they are also required to keep up their professional work, do research and publish, serve on committees, write grants, attend conferences, and do service for their department, college, university and community. All of this must be documented and submitted to the administration each year, in the Individual Faculty Report that becomes part of a departmental summary report. There is great accountability for the faculty activity that far exceeds a typical forty hour work week. All non-tenured faculty re-apply for their jobs each year and the documentation necessary for reappointment is tremendously rigorous. Tenured faculty are reviewed by law every five years and must account for five years worth of activity in teaching, scholarship and service. Most tenured faculty are also applying for highly competitive promotion. All these activities require three sets of peer observations and student evaluations. Faculty work hard to make sure their classes result in a quality education for students. The characterization of faculty putting in the equivalent of two eight hour days per week is absurd. On the other hand, there is no administrative report and no accountability for administrators. Maybe the New Jersey taxpayers and students should ask them for similar documentation as to what they do and to justify why they continue to hire more administrators while freezing full time faculty positions.

Q - The administration says that this new schedule is “good for students, and good for Kean University,” is it?

A - No, faculty know the students they teach and the programs and curriculum they design, not the administration. They know what classes and times work best for students and their busy schedules. They understand that Kean students need blocks of time for work, internships, athletics, labs and other commitments. They understand that MWF classes will not save the university money and that there is no savings that will be passed on to students. The complicated, convoluted schedule simply does not work. It will be almost impossible for a student to get a three day or four day schedule. Most everyone will be on campus five days a week and that will complicate already hideous parking issues, assuming there will be gas money to drive to campus and circle the lots.

Q - But won’t I get better advising?

A - You don’t need the new schedule to get better advising. There have been a lot of problems with advising that are not the fault of the faculty: KeanWISE is often down, students have restrictions or “holds” on their accounts (frequently there long after the student has resolved or attempted to resolve the issue). Student schedules are dropped by the administration and everyone scrambles to get back into closed classes. KeanWISE or Datatel gives an error message or says the transcript is “unavailable.” Student records fall far behind actions such as changes of majors, or documents have to be submitted multiple times or have multiple signatures from multiple offices. Forms are unavailable or outdated. Information is contradictory or unavailable. Administrative offices don’t answer their phones. Many faculty computers are hopelessly out of date and won’t run some of the software programs. School advisors responsibilities have been transferred to faculty who now must advise outside the major program and spend time training to keep up with endless changes in curriculum, university or state regulations. Online program evaluations are difficult to interpret and often inaccessible.

Q - Why is the Council of Chairs opposed to the new schedule?

A - Because it was imposed on the faculty and students without regard for real input from affected parties. The administration refuses to answer questions, discuss superior alternative plans, supply written evidence, or even acknowledge that this plan does not make fiscal sense. It wants to impose the schedule on the campus community even though the evidence suggests that it will makes things worse, not better. It will require adjunct faculty to drive to campus three times a week for very little compensation. It has already cost a fortune in man hours to re-tool scheduling from scratch. Faculty oppose it because they know it won’t work, is not in the best interest of students, and not good for Kean University.

Q - How does the University expect to cover the deficit?

A - They will likely attempt to increase enrollment, increase tuition to allowed limits, impose a freeze on hiring faculty, increase reliance on adjunct professors, and increase fees, and rely on adjunct faculty. Kean has the highest percentage of adjunct faculty of all the state institutions. They threaten to cut full-time faculty even further, at a time when they have hired a record number of new administrators. They announced the appointment of two new vice-president’s within the past two weeks. They claim that the biggest expense is in salaries, but even the highest paid faculty make far less than the far more abundant top administrators.

Q - How can we get the administration to be accountable or actually answer questions?

A - Tell your friends the truth…and share this document with them. Tell them to show it to their parents and to write to their representatives asking for an impartial inquiry into why this scheme is allowed to move forward.