Some faculty members at SIU Carbondale are getting notice that they may not have a job next year, and the school says it’s all because of state funding questions.
Non-Tenure Track Faculty have a clause in their contract with SIU that says they must be notified by May first of their job status for next year.
My hope is that these letters are largely procedural in nature, and are simply being issued in order to meet that May 1 deadline. -NTTFA President Jim Wall
NTTFA President Jim Wall says hundreds of faculty members are getting letters saying there may be a job for them in the fall, but with no guarantee.
“Many of these non-tenure track faculty members are former working professionals. They are there to provide students with cutting-edge, sort of experiential learning, in addition to rigorous academics.”
SIU Spokeswoman Rae Goldsmith says she understands the frustration, and says the letters represent a pause that administrators need to figure out just how much state funding will be available for next year.
“Because we’re uncomfortable making funding commitments that we may not be able to fulfill. So it’s more of a pause. We do anticipate being able to make some appointments, we’re just waiting until we get a better picture of the state budget.”
Both Goldsmith and Wall say they hope the letters are just a procedural move that must be made, and that faculty members will be back in the classroom in the fall.
Goldsmith points out there is a similar situation happening with graduate assistantships at this time, too. She says the university remains hopeful those can be awarded sooner rather than later.
