When professor Theodore Swetz left Binghamton University’s theater department at the beginning of last year, the remaining faculty and students struggled to cope with the loss. Early this fall, after months of waiting, the theater department was finally given the grant needed to begin the process of finding a full-time replacement.
Several factors were responsible for the lengthy delay. According to Jean-Pierre Mileur, the dean of Harpur College, the request for a new professor required approval by several University administrators — including himself, Provost Mary Ann Swain and President Lois B. DeFleur. Once the decision was approved, he said, the University then had to determine if it could afford an additional salary into the theater department’s annual budget.
Mileur explained that this step was complicated by the fact that BU, like most universities, operates on a one- to two-year hiring cycle, meaning that the hiring plans for each department’s faculty members are designed long before they actually begin to teach. This delay allows time to determine how available funds will be allocated to each academic department. As a result, when professors leave mid-cycle, as was the case with Swetz, a replacement cannot be incorporated into the budget until it is redone for the following year.
“It takes some time to get the money together,” Mileur said. “When you’re out of sync with that cycle, sometimes you have to wait a while to get back into sync with it.”
According to an article published in Pipe Dream on April 11, undergraduate representatives for the department were angered when they learned that Mileur had said he had no plans to give more funding to the theater department to hire more faculty.
Fearing that Swetz’s position would never be replaced, students distributed a petition last spring, stressing the immediate need for a new replacement and, after receiving over 1,000 signatures, submitted it to BU’s administration.
Meanwhile, the theater department, faced with the prospect of having to wait several months or even a year before a full-time replacement could be found, assigned senior professors to teach Swetz’s comedy, directing, upper-level Shakespeare and scene-study classes, and hired adjunct professors to fill in the gaps.
According to Leanne Mercadante, one of the department’s undergraduate representatives, the move has “left the faculty stretched very thin.” Many have had to deal with the ongoing task of teaching, directing and advising simultaneously.
“Anytime you [lose] someone of Ted Swetz’s quality, you’re impacted,” said John Vestal, chairman of the theater department.
THE SEARCH
Now that the theater department has been given the go-ahead, the search for a new professor can finally begin. Over the next few months, up until the Dec. 8 submission deadline, as many as 40 to 50 applications from individuals nationwide are expected to arrive. The final decision will be made following the observation of the three most promising applicants in a trial teaching workshop to be held sometime next semester; the selected professor will likely begin teaching next fall.
Students will play an active role in this process. The department’s two undergraduate representatives will take part in the vote that determines which applicant is selected. In addition, faculty members will speak to those students who participate in the trial workshops to determine what they think of the candidates. This high level of involvement given to theater students in important decisions such as this is something they value greatly.
Mercadante said the close tie between students and faculty is one of the department’s strongest assets. “What’s great about this department is that communication [between faculty and students] is open — it makes the department very unique,” she explained.