On Sunday, The Oregonian reported that university students in Oregon spend more time in the classroom with part-time teachers and graduate-student instructors than with full time professors. Undergraduates attending the University of Oregon can only expect to be taught by a professor for 50 percent of their time in the classroom, according to the article entitled “Full-time tuition, part-time teachers.” This trend of colleges relying on less expensive, part-time instructors is reflected in schools across the nation.
Students at this University are likely not surprised to hear that educational engagement with a fully qualified professor is becoming more and more rare. Even when professors do teach classes, a student must still rely on teaching assistants or graduate teaching fellows for individual assistance. In larger lecture classes, GTFs are usually also responsible for grading the bulk of students’ work.
Although there is no inherent disadvantage to receiving an education through interaction with a part-time instructor, the article makes the valid point that students are paying more tuition than ever to be taught by instructors who “aren’t held to the same stringent hiring standards as professors, are less likely to engage in research that could enhance their teaching, and aren’t subject to performance reviews of the kind professors face.” Further, part-time instructors often lack access to an office or other such resources that benefit both teacher and student.
If a student is paying tuition in full, it only makes sense that he or she expects access to fully qualified teachers. When GTFs do their job correctly, they provide great opportunities for students to interact with classroom material on a smaller scale and with more individualized instructions while still benefiting from instruction by a full-time teacher. When GTFs do their job incorrectly, students often have to grapple with unfair grading decisions or confusing classroom instruction. If the course is being taught exclusively by a part-time instructor, students cannot exercise the option of discussing grading decisions or class material with a more experienced professor.
Many students have experienced at least one discussion section wherein a GTF engaged in an inappropriate grading scheme that was eventually rendered invalid by the reigning professor. Students may also have encountered a GTF who, instead of using a discussion section for actual discussion, encouraged students to use their classroom time as a study hall. College students are paying for an education; it is unreasonable that our money shouldn’t guarantee an appropriate, willing teacher.
In order to create an educational environment that is beneficial to all, it is important that universities don’t rely on part-time instructors and GTFs. Furthermore, if non-professors are required to lead a classroom, those instructors deserve the same resources and financial compensation given to regular professors. As long as students are paying to learn from qualified educators, it is inappropriate to let universities become dominated by part-time instructors rather than professors.