At Monday's meeting of the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs, Provost J. Bernard Machen recommended the expansion of clinical faculty. At present, four of the University's graduate programs utilize clinical faculty. Six additional schools and colleges petitioned to bring in clinical faculty; Machen stipulated that these schools should submit a detailed articulation of need to his office. The University Board of Regents must approve the expansion before hiring can start.
Education should enhance students' intelligence and should include information from a variety of perspectives. Clinical faculty have much to offer students. Their experience with real-world applications of academic knowledge can be valuable to augment the information presented in textbooks, discussions and lectures.
Clinical faculty usually teach part-time while holding jobs in their field of expertise. Due to the area's small window of opportunity for some professions, some of the new faculty may need to hold full-time teaching positions to attract them to the University. The University should make certain that it attracts the most qualified faculty possible - even if it does require spending extra money on their recruitment.
Critics fear the supply of Graduate Student Instructors may grow thin if clinical and research professors battle for teaching assistance. The administration should follow careful guidelines to ensure cooperation between research and clinical professors - the groups should not have to battle for resources.
The administration should make efforts to prevent divisions from forming after the hiring of the new faculty. Traditional research faculty have more teaching experience while clinical faculty have more practical application experience. Cooperation and teamwork between the two groups is paramount to ensure that students can get the benefits of both worlds. Without it, the University will be unable to fulfill its commitment to providing students with the best education possible.
At Monday's meeting, some SACUA members expressed concern that the new faculty might harm or dismantle the present tenure system. However, the new faculty could not achieve tenure and would not impede research faculty seeking tenure. Furthermore, Machen stated that the number of tenured faculty is the same now as it was before clinical faculty members first came to the University.
The University should commit itself to providing students with a broad variety of educational experiences. Increasing clinical faculty is an excellent way to ensure that students have the opportunity to gather a number of perspectives within their fields of study. The regents should enact the program's expansion as it benefits the students and increases the University's educational capacity.