The Furman 2012-2013 academic year has seen some difficulties with professor absences. Many students have shared the concern that, because of a lack of professors, they would not be able to take the classes they wish to take in the upcoming fall semester. The question of whether this has been due to an increase in teachers taking sabbatical or simply taking a personal leave of absence has risen.
There are a few main reasons for why a faculty member may leave Furman temporarily. The first is taking a sabbatical leave, which is an opportunity for a full-time tenured faculty member to study or travel with academic merit.
The Furman policy states that this can be taken every seven years of employment and so long as it doesn’t jeopardize the academic program. Another reason why a professor may not be accounted for, is if they take a leave of absence. This could be an absence for medical, Military, family or other personal reasons.
So, how exactly are Furman students affected by professors who are on a leave of absence or sabbatical leave? What is done to minimize any negative outcomes that result from these absences? The Dean of the Faculty, Dr. Beckford, helped clear up some things. He stated that individual departments always try to predict far in advance what vacancies they will need to fill with adjunct professors. With cases where there is very little notice, solutions “range from conducting national searches, to assigning overloads to current faculty, to postponing course offerings, to drawing on a core of highly-qualified adjuncts”.
There is an emphasis on providing the same educational experience with other qualified professors.
There are two departments in particular that have experienced troubles with having less-than-usual faculty present: Communications and Chemistry.
Dean Beckford said that “there was a convergence of unanticipated leaves due to illness and child birth” along with professors on sabbatical. This has left these departments a bit lacking over the course of the academic year.
Communications Department assistant Amy Cockman said, “This semester has been challenging. Right now we have three professors missing, one on sabbatical, one on study away and one on medical leave.”
However, there was a tremendous effort to identify and put into place highly qualified faculty to cover the assignments needed.
When it comes down to it, Furman has had a good history with thoughtfully filling teaching vacancies regardless of the circumstances that produce them. Furman tries to avoid situations where classes are cancelled or consolidated in order to hold up the standards of our academic program.
Dean Beckford said, “Leaves, medical or professional, are inevitable in higher education, but I believe Furman has sound practices for ensuring continuity in the quality of teaching, even when our professors’ teaching assignments are interrupted.”
Overall, the reduced number of professors, particularly in the Communications and Chemistry departments, has been due to an unusual string of circumstances and will more than likely not be a recurring trend. All of the departments do a very good job of predicting and planning for temporary leaves, and there is a low probability of not being able to take a credit or class that has already been published in the fall 2013 catalogue.