Dean John Allen addresses CHaSS
Faculty and administrators assembled Wednesday, as Dean John Allen of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences gave his State of the College address.
“I don’t know if some of you have noticed, but there’s been some discussion about what we do in this college and whether or not it has value,” Allen said. “And I guess I’ve come to the point that I actually believe we’re a liberal arts college in a land-grant university, and I’m proud of it.”
Allen said the focus should be placed on the importance of one-on-one time between teachers and their students. From 2008-2009, CHaSS records reflected a high number of double-majors enrolled in the college, which is an indicator that social sciences and humanities students are highly driven. He said USU has been hiring more flexibly and has consequently created a larger staff.
“Nobody can or will get enough one-on-one time with their teachers, but if a student needs help with something or has questions, our teachers are always willing to help,” said Hadley Simmons, a student who attended the address, said. “That’s the most important thing.”
History major Matt Fife disagrees. He said even though he is happy with the overall quality of faculty within the college, he feels the university, as a whole, should place more initiative on retaining well-qualified professors if its going to continue to push for higher enrollment numbers.
“We teach people the humane and the social science aspect of the world,” Allen said. “That’s how I’ve trying to position us. We have high-skilled faculty members; as you can see we’re bringing in new, high-quality people all the time. Our alumni are successful from every single department.”
Allen explained how he has worked to stabilize departments by being more flexible with hiring and distributing money to tender faculty and to departments, rather than to the Dean’s Office.
Funds this year were $30,000, but the money has been distributed at the department level, allowing the Dean’s Office little flexibility. Department heads have been charged with the task of raising money on their own. Allen also said the possibility is looming of budget cuts within the next year. The amount to be cut remains unknown at this point. Luckily, he said, he has kept back some money to use as a buffer if the cuts do end up occurring.
“I think the main motivation for a teacher is going to be their pay,” said Courtney Adams, another student who attended the event. “If budgets get cut this year, teachers will have less motivation to take the time to help their (students).”
Allen also lauded the success of the newly founded CHaSS alumni magazine “Liberalis.” The magazine focuses on showing the outstanding work of CHaSS current students, alumni and faculty.
Along with this success, Allen said he’d like to continue to increase the level of rigor within the classrooms. He said he’s done exit interviews with students, and the general consensus is that students would like to see higher levels of intensity from professors.
“It’s OK to be tougher on them,” Allen said, regarding faculty relationships with students. “It’s OK, and we’ll stand behind that.”
Other accomplishments Allen cited included external funding, development numbers, research, scholarships and creative works. In the CHaSS office and adjacent hallway in Old Main, several covers of faculty publications for 2009-2010, such as books and journal articles, are on display.
The college’s goals for the coming year include motivating and maintaining faculty, Allen said. Another goal is to create a better environment for everyone, he added.
“Our main focus is on scholarships and putting money in our faculty’s pockets,” he said.
Allen said he would like to increase the number of scholarships provided, to reduce grant barriers and use grants of travel. He said he also hopes to continue to develop external funding.
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