College thaws hiring freeze for language faculty
Mary Petrides
Issue date: 2/4/10 Section: News
The college is making three exceptions to the hiring freeze this year.
Each of the three modern language departments - French, German and Spanish - will likely add one professor over the next year.
The German department will add a professor to replace C.J. Brown, visiting lecturer in German, who in the fall will return to graduate school to finish his doctorate.
The French and Spanish departments will hire a professor for one or two years to fill in for professors leaving for sabbatical.
Associate Provost David Whalen said an "iron-clad" freeze would hurt the school since the language departments could not function without replacing professors.
"It really wouldn't be possible at all," Sandy Puvogel, director of the Spanish department, said.
She said all the Spanish professors are teaching a full load and Spanish courses are regularly full.
Department heads and members of the hiring committees reviewed applications - about 50 in French, 35 in Spanish and 59 in German, department heads said - in the fall and interviewed some of the applicants at the Modern Language Association conference in December.
A few of the interviewees - two in French, four in German and two or three in Spanish - were invited to visit campus.
The campus visit includes interviews with deans, department heads and provosts. Potential hires also teach a beginning or intermediate level language course while professors observe.
"It can be a little unnerving having a bunch of professors sitting in the back row," Whalen said.
Potential hires may give a lecture or eat lunch with students as well.
Department heads said they hope to have a decisions made within the next few months.
Each of the three modern language departments - French, German and Spanish - will likely add one professor over the next year.
The German department will add a professor to replace C.J. Brown, visiting lecturer in German, who in the fall will return to graduate school to finish his doctorate.
The French and Spanish departments will hire a professor for one or two years to fill in for professors leaving for sabbatical.
Associate Provost David Whalen said an "iron-clad" freeze would hurt the school since the language departments could not function without replacing professors.
"It really wouldn't be possible at all," Sandy Puvogel, director of the Spanish department, said.
She said all the Spanish professors are teaching a full load and Spanish courses are regularly full.
Department heads and members of the hiring committees reviewed applications - about 50 in French, 35 in Spanish and 59 in German, department heads said - in the fall and interviewed some of the applicants at the Modern Language Association conference in December.
A few of the interviewees - two in French, four in German and two or three in Spanish - were invited to visit campus.
The campus visit includes interviews with deans, department heads and provosts. Potential hires also teach a beginning or intermediate level language course while professors observe.
"It can be a little unnerving having a bunch of professors sitting in the back row," Whalen said.
Potential hires may give a lecture or eat lunch with students as well.
Department heads said they hope to have a decisions made within the next few months.
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