College Designs Winter Term Curriculum Budget, Number of Visiting Instructors Both on the Rise

Author: Devin Zatorski News Editor

After sifting through Winter Term course proposals from outside applicants as well as Middlebury faculty members, the Curriculum Committee settled on the 116 offerings in the 2002 Catalogue, a process which this year involved contracting with an "unusual number of visiting professors," according to Associate Dean of the Faculty Jim Larrabee.

The size of the visiting Winter Term faculty has been creeping up in recent years, from 35 in 1999 to 51 anticipated in 2002, compared to only five or six visitors a decade ago.

Following a "one on, one off" Winter Term teaching sequence, faculty members vacate their posts every other year, causing ebbs and flows in the number of visitors required to round out the course offerings.

"With the same faculty teaching Winter Term all of the time, there tends to be redundancy," Larrabee said, pointing to the benefits of "picking and choosing visitors for balance."

In the past, when there was only a handful of visiting instructors, the administration received an "enormous number of complaints from students about Winter Term," added Larrabee, who is also a professor of chemistry.

In step with the increase in visitors this year, the administration has also expanded its budget for Winter Term to an estimated $219,285, up from $64,696 in 1999.

In addition to a "more generous stipend for visiting faculty," Larrabee explained, the College also has to subsidize housing at the Middlebury Inn and the Inn on the Green, a new expense brought on by the relocation of Storrs Avenue homes, which have traditionally housed visiting instructors.

Because their alternate accommodations lack kitchens, the College will also provide a food subsidy to visitors staying in hotels.

The final source of the budget jump stems from increased emphasis on field trips. Larrabee cites "Beginning Communicative German's" overnight trip to the German Consulate in Boston and "The American Negro Spiritual's" excursion to New York City as examples.



The Selection Process



In mid-April, prospective Winter Term instructors file their applications with the Curriculum Committee, touching off the evaluation and selection process.

In soliciting applications, Larabee said the committee takes "passive approach," as opposed to actively recruiting visitors to apply.

"We encourage faculty and staff to request that colleagues [at other colleges] submit applications," he said of the committee, which is comprised of faculty members from each of the six academic divisions at the College.

Bethany Ladimer, the French Department chair, is one of many faculty members who heeded the advice: she is trying to recruit a friend from France to teach an International Studies on human rights for Winter Term 2003.

As a result of this open application process, the committee often receives a disproportionate number of proposals in one area.

A higher number of proposals centered on either environmental or educational issues this year yielded six courses each for the Environmental Studies and Teacher Education Departments.



The Scott Symposium



Every other year, the Religion Department expands its offerings through a series of courses associated with the Scott Symposium, an endowed fund that also finances a two-day symposium during Winter Term. The fund is named for Charles Scott, a retired College chaplain.

In keeping with this year's theme of women and religion, the department lists "Women, American Religion and Social Change," "Women in Buddhism," "In the Name of Writing: Women's Religiosity in Spain," "Muslim Women's Narratives" and "Women Family and Religion" among department options for this winter.

Unlike other departments, religion professors try to all teach on the same year to ensure appropriate staffing for the extra courses funded through the Scott Symposium.

Affirms Larrabee, "We did not turn down any courses to add a course in the Scott Symposium."



Forum for Diversity-Oriented Courses



With the rise in outside teachers, coupled with the Scott Symposium topic this year, Associate Provost for Institutional Diversity Roman Graf noted a net increase in courses that could be classified as diversity-oriented. The Catalogue lists 19 courses on diversity, ranging from "Sapmela? An Ecological Study of Native Identity" to "Kawabata and Oe: Tradition and Modernity in Contemporary Japanese Fiction."

Graf remarked, "We seem to be at a point where people are comfortable offering diversity courses in Winter Term," emphasizing that this extends into regular semester, as well. "Once you have a few classes on diversity, other diversity classes will have an easier time getting listed." Along with the increased offerings in diversity study, there has been a trend toward more specific course topics, he said.

He also pointed out that Winter Term enables faculty members to step out of the departmental structure that dictates what they teach in the regular semester, allowing them to tap into their "personal expertise."



The Question of Foreign

Languages



As an associate professor of German, Graf is familiar with the limitations placed on teachers of foreign language in Winter Term. "In the German Department," he said, "you do not have the luxury of being able to create your own course, because you are stuck in the 102 rotation."

The 102-level courses, which constitute the German, French, Italian and Chinese Departments' sole offering this winter, serve as a bridge between the 101 level in the fall and the 103 level in the spring.

"Foreign language professors, in general, cannot offer other courses," Graf said.

For the Spanish and Italian Departments, "enrollment pressure" is especially intense, requiring that all faculty members teach the 102-level course, said Larrabee.

The Italian professors have not even been given their reprieve every other winter, just to "provide enough slots for the 102 students," Larrabee continued.

According to Professor of Italian and Department Chair Ugo Skubikowski, Italian 102 has been the Italian Department's only Winter Term offering since he arrived at Middlebury in 1981. Because of a high first-year enrollment – over 70 students this year – and faculty leave, the department can "barely staff for sections of Intensive Beginning Italian [102]." He went on to say that early, intensive study is essential to preparing students to study abroad in their junior year.

Even though two years ago the department was able to attract a mask-maker from Italy, who taught a course on Venetian masks, "the logistics of having someone from Italy or elsewhere are complex," Skubikowski said. He pointed to student achievement as a testament to the overall strength of the program.

Associate Professor of Chinese and Department Chair Tom Moran explained, "In addition to offering a full slate of language courses, we give our beginning students a competitive advantage by giving them a chance to do a month's intensive work during J-Term."

He also noted that advanced students of the language could opt for independent projects or thesis work during Winter Term, while junior majors are often abroad in China.

Ladimer, the French chair, added that International Studies courses are also helpful to foreign language majors, even if faculty leave patterns have resulted in "very few [French] professor [being] 'on' this winter."

"It would be nice to straighten out this unevenness [in faculty leaves during Winter Term], but I don't see how we could anytime soon," she admitted.