Faculty cuts cause ripple effects throughout the college for students, professors, and administration.Eight full-time faculty members will not have their contracts renewed for the 2009-2010 academic year. They are visiting professors who were hired with one-, two-, or three-year contracts.

These cuts will be felt by students, existing faculty, and of course the professors who will no longer have jobs.

According to Adrienne Israel, vice president for academic affairs and academic dean, all of these positions were expected to end. Budget cuts and a decrease in enrollment size played a role in determining the number of faculty that were not renewed, but Israel stated that these were not the only factors involved in the decisions.

“The vast majority of visiting professors are on a year-to-year basis depending on whether we need those positions,” said Israel. “They provide flexibility for the college and all of the faculty understand that if you are not tenured then there is always the possibility of non-renewal.”

In Fall 2008, Campus Ministry Coordinator and Friends Center Director Max Carter spoke with the budget committee about the approaching budget cuts to address the issues using Quaker principles.

“During the depression, the college faculty and staff took a one-third pay cut so the community could continue as a whole,” said Carter. “In light of that, I suggested that upper-level faculty and staff take a voluntary reduction in salary so that no cuts would have to be made.”

He added that such voluntary reductions should be made within the context of organizing community activities that would help offset some of the loss of income: community gardens, community potlucks, and a community woodpile.

Carter believes that developing this attitude would foster community and build relationships that are part of the foundational principles of the college.

“I think many people crave community as much as they need large salaries. There are ways to have a very enjoyable life without having the big bucks in a community when you are in a community where people are looking out for each other,” said Carter.

Aware of the suggestions made by Carter, Israel also shares in the concern for the individuals whose contracts were not renewed. She said, “These cuts do not mean that persons are not loved and cared for, and asking people to take cuts would not solve the problems.”

Israel understands how it feels to be a non-tenured faculty and realizes the problems that come with that position.

“I am personally sensitive to the feelings that go with being a temporary faculty member,” said Israel. “In 1982 I was working at the University of (Maryland) Baltimore County as a contracted faculty member with no job security. It was emotionally difficult to leave and to take a pay cut. I took the job at Guilford for $16,000, which was $2,000 less than I was making, just so that I could be on tenure track,”

Two of the faculty members without renewed contracts, Visiting Professor of Justice and Policy Studies John Motsinger and Visiting Associate Professor of Education Studies Nancy Yoder, also understand the insecurities of temporary faculty positions.

“One of the appeals of Guilford was the expressed valued sense of community,” said Yoder. “I have experienced this in education studies, so I expected the whole campus to be involved in community-wide decision-making.”

She believed that as part of the community, all involved parties would be able to offer input and suggestions in decision-making and problem-solving in an economic downturn that would not result in loss of jobs or positions.

Because Yoder is one of two professors in secondary education, she feels that the students will suffer. “There is simply too much for the one remaining person to maintain the secondary education program, let alone grow it into a larger program,” said Yoder.

Other concerns lie with severing the relationships that she has built with public high school administrators. Yoder said that these relationships are essential to placing students in the right internships and student teaching positions.

Motsinger also explained that as class schedules are planned, fewer faculty will mean fewer courses.

Junior Sam Connors has already noticed the reduction in choices. He said, “There aren’t nearly as many classes to choose from this semester. I can tell that they have been cut. Usually there is an excess and I normally have a hard time choosing, but this semester I am just trying to find one.”

Besides the effect the faculty cuts will have on students, Motsinger expressed personal concerns.

“What is probably the most devastating for me is access to employment-related group health insurance, said Motsinger. “One member of my family has a pre-existing health condition that would be uninsurable or prohibitively expensive on the private, individual market.”

Motsinger continued, saying, “it becomes especially hard for older people like me, almost 62, who suddenly find themselves on the job market during a time of rising unemployment and the effects of ageism on hiring decisions.”

When budget cuts are made, students feel the impact, personal concerns exist, academic departments feel the crunch, and college-wide concerns abound.

Israel assures that with seven tenure-track searches continuing, the faculty will not grow weaker, but stronger. The administration is committed to the strategic plan for the college, which states a 16-1 student-teacher ratio and a class size of 20 or less.