In the summer of 2021, in an effort to better reflect the size of the student body and fix money deficits, KSC bought out 25 faculty members across campus.
Since then, there has been little visible effort to replenish the faculty that the students lost education from. The Equinox believes not actively rehiring professors is putting unnecessary strain on students and the remaining faculty that are struggling to effectively deliver their programs.
One of our primary concerns is the domino effect that letting go of faculty will cause students to not get the education they deserve and pay for.
Some faculty that were on or are still on the payroll hold specialized career experience that they bring to the classroom. Students rely on that expertise to learn more about their future careers and the opportunities their degree can open for them.
Not regaining those crucial faculty members that hold that real-world experience is taking away real-world education from students, especially in upper-level courses that get more and more specific up the chain. Students need to be reassured that not just anybody is going to teach their career-specific course.
Another significant red flag being posed is the undefined plans not being shared about if or when the college is going to replenish the faculty they originally bought out. Students, especially in smaller or more specialized majors, are being left in the dark about whether or not the faculty they once relied on are going to come back to their departments.
The Equinox hopes the college can ease some nerves students hold about the future of their programs and tell them what’s going on behind the scenes regarding decisions on faculty positions. We think it would be beneficial to reassure the student body that they will always be supported as best as possible in their academics. At the end of the day, Keene State College is an academic institution, and its main priority should be ensuring the utmost quality of education to their students. That education comes from quality faculty.
We fear that the college is prioritizing money-grab activities over academics. The recent investments announced that are going towards student retention, quality of living, justice, equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives and the new student-athlete weight all have their pros. However, the college could use that money to ensure their faculty are bringing the best quality education to their students.
Academics should come first. We suggest the college reevaluate how they plan to go about the removal or leave of faculty and smaller majors.
Putting a major on administrative leave, preventing any new enrollments in that major, nurturing the faculty and students that are relying on that major and making sure all existing students in those majors are satisfactorily graduated with their selected major would be best. That way, the faculty members being removed don’t have to stress about negatively impacting their program or students.
Removing faculty in those programs too soon will only make the students stress more about their quality of education. Let them graduate comfortably.
Keene State College might think removing or buying out faculty is the best option to save money and fix financial deficits, but we at The Equinox think losing our educators is doing more damage than anything.
Students shouldn’t have to worry their quality of education over their career experience and professional quality professors dropping like flies. We as students rely heavily on professors and faculty for guidance into our future careers, and cutting them out is causing unnecessary stress.
