Administrators to begin teaching in addition to regular duties
President Kermit L. Hall has issued a new plan for administrators and vice presidents at Utah State University to teach either this fall or in the spring. The plan is intended to benefit faculty and students.
“I think the president is anxious to understand what students are going through day to day,” said Jim MacMahon, university advancement vice president.
“This university’s primary function is teaching students,” said Craig Peterson, associate provost.
Peterson, who has taught at USU for many years, said this program lets the administrators keep in touch with the students’ needs.
The teaching program is a “wonderful initiative. It will help students have a closer working relationship with the administration,” Fred Hunsaker, vice president for Academic Services said.
The program will also help students in other ways, he said.
“Students have the opportunity to, perhaps, gain some additional course work,” Hunsaker said.
The plan will also help boost the student-to-faculty ratio, he said.
Hunsaker is not teaching now, but is making plans to teach in the spring. He said he has expertise in public finance.
“The purpose is to have central members stay in touch with students,” Brent Miller, vice president for research said.
Miller said he will probably be teaching a graduate course in the spring and is looking forward to it.
“It’s a great idea, I’m very comfortable with it,” he said.
Chris Boggs, a freshman in Craig Peterson’s USU 1300 United State’s institutions class, said there are several advantages to having an administrator as your teacher.
“Since he’s an administrator, he can let us know what’s going on with the inner workings of the school,” he said.
Boggs said he feels the program will work because the administrators will be better equipped to understand the things students are concerned with.
“He really knows what we need, and he’s willing to work with us,” Boggs said of Peterson.
The people that teach have the challenge of balancing their administrative duties with teaching.
Hunsaker said, “[The program] helps the administration understand the challenges the faculty members face and the preparation and work that goes into teaching each day.”
MacMahon has taught at USU for 30 years, and said he enjoys it, but he stressed the work that goes into teaching.
He said it is difficult to keep the lectures current, and he often researches his lessons in the evening.
“It takes extra time, but it’s well worth it,” he said.
The plan is not documented, it came about as an announcement from the president to all the head administrators. President Hall asked that each administrator have a class at least once a year, this way they wouldn’t have to teach every semester, but would still stay connected to the students, Peterson said.