According to a report presented by the Faculty Senate Budget Priorities Committee at the last Faculty Senate Executive Committee meeting, there are more UB students taking classes taught by teaching assistants than there were seven years ago.
The committee collected information between 1996 and 2001 to determine the percentage of classes taught by TAs and non-tenure track faculty members, who are staff hired by UB and given two to three-year contracts.
The report indicated that the percentage of TAs and non-tenure faculty members has been on the rise in departments throughout UB since the study was initiated in 1996, ranging from an increase of 3.6 percent in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences to an increase of 25 percent in the School of Management.
A number of factors has contributed to the change in staffing since 1996, including a higher demand for classes as a result of increased enrollment, curriculum changes, difficulty recruiting tenured faculty and the fact that, the report stated, hiring TAs and non-tenure track faculty is cheaper.
"Non-tenured faculty are cheaper, have no voice in the institution and usually do not receive benefits," said Michael Cohen, chairman of FSEC.
Cohen said there are advantages and disadvantages to the changing composition of UB's faculty.
"Non-tenured faculty can bring life experience from their field to the classroom that academics might not have," Cohen said. "On the other hand, you would not want to be in a school where the majority is composed of non-tenured faculty. Tenured faculty should be in charge of the learning outcomes and objectives."
Susan Hamlen, an associate professor in the marketing department, said an increase in classes taught by TAs is not necessarily a bad thing.
"Some TAs are fabulous teachers," Hamlen said. "You cannot make generalizations like, 'If you are a tenured teacher, you must do a better job.'"
However, Hamlen said employing a higher percentage of TAs and non-tenure faculty members, while reducing the number of renowned professors, could harm UB's national and international reputation, since TAs may receive less academic training than tenured counterparts.
"Unless you have a strong tenured faculty, you cannot have a good staff to develop research," Hamlen said.
Mandeep Kaur, a freshman biology and chemistry major, said there should be tougher standards for hiring TAs at UB.
"In my first semester, my math class was taught by a TA that could not speak good English, and that becomes a problem when trying to teach students," Kaur said.
Siew Shee Lim, a senior chemical engineering major, said there is not a problem with TAs teaching courses because they are usually more accessible than professors.
"When I have problems, I usually just go to the TA, because my professors are harder to reach," Lim said.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
