Thursday, September 1, 2016

Ready for classes? U Wyoming departments work with reduced budget - Thaddeus Mast, Laramie Boomerang

About 100 faculty and staff positions sit vacant at the University of Wyoming to help account for $35 million in state budget cuts. Now with students returning, departments are going to find out if there are any rippling effects. The English department has one of the greatest course loads on campus, teaching thousands of students every year. The department offers required courses that many students must pass before continuing to their major-specific classes. While there are 25 core faculty to teach, they can’t cover everything, English Department Head Peter Parolin said. In 2015, about 50 English courses were taught by part-time adjunct professors or full-time adjuncts with one-year contracts. Most of the faculty are already close to the standardized workload set by UW President Laurie Nichols of three courses one semester, two courses the other. http://www.laramieboomerang.com/news/local_news/ready-for-classes-uw-departments-work-with-reduced-budget/article_45ecef68-69b5-11e6-8b0c-372bf161e5a8.html