In high school, graded homework is assigned nightly. This is unnecessary in higher education - University students should be self-motivated. However, romance language classes continue to hold students by the hand. As in many other courses, instructors could give ungraded assignments daily and administer examinations two or three times per semester. Grading each assignment is unnecessary and will not help students more than assigning ungraded homework; those students who do the homework will do better on the exams.
GSIs must routinely grade formal compositions, workbook assignments, journal entries, class participation and oral exams, along with holding weekly office hours. It is easy for instructors, under these conditions, to become disillusioned and lackadaisical. Jarrold Hayes, a romance language associate professor, accurately assesses the situation by saying that "it is impossible to have a proper foreign language education when GSIs are overworked."
The cost of hiring professors to fill GSI-held positions would be enormous. GSIs get very little compensation for competently and effectively instructing their classes. The University should be grateful for their services - they deserve administrative support and backing. Cross should address foreign language GSI workload problems immediately - however, he has failed to do so.
The Ad Hoc Committee on Teaching Load, a group of romance language GSIs supported by the Graduate Employees' Organization, met with Cross to discuss their concerns in December and demanded a response by Jan. 8. When no response was given by February, they sent Cross the results of an external review on reducing GSI workload. Cross still has not responded - and a series of grade-ins will be held until he satisfies their requests. Cross and his fellow administrators, by failing to fulfill their responsibility to expeditiously respond to teachers' concerns, are unnecessarily putting themselves at odds with GSIs.
It is good to see that, in spite of administrative mistreatment, GEO has decided to employ positive protesting practices. Like last year's organized walkout, the GSI grade-in is another example of GEO's effective demonstrations. Undergraduate students should recognize GSIs' value and give them the support they deserve.
The administration should revamp romance language classes. The curriculum imposes too much graded work, placing an unnecessary burden on teachers and not allowing students to pursue their academic goals independently. Moreover, the administration has delayed for four months in responding to a complaint that it should have addressed immediately. If administrators do not work toward fostering a better relationship with GSIs, they will increasingly be unable to give students the high-quality education they expect from the University.