Student-faculty ratio set to drop for 05-06 year

Author: Andrea M. LaRocca

With the addition of 28 newly hired professors to the Middlebury faculty, the student-faculty ratio is projected to drop from 11.3 - 1 to 10.6 -1 at the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year. The decrease is met with approval from the administration, as President Ronald D. Liebowitz said, "I am pleased that in the short term, even before the planning process has identified this as a major goal for the College, the student-faculty ratio is going down."

The student-faculty ratio at Middlebury has been a hot topic over the past few months since the current 11.3 - 1 ratio this year was a likely contributor to the College's lower-than-usual US News & World Report America's Best Colleges ranking and because in September, Liebowitz identified the student-faculty ratio as a major discussion topic in the College's strategic planning process. President Emeritus and Professor of History John McCardell Jr. also brought up the issue of student-faculty ratios in his Sept. 13, 2005 New York Times op-ed, "What Your College President Didn't Tell You."

"This issue has been a centerpiece for me and my administration since the first day of my presidency," said Liebowitz. "I see it as my utmost responsibility to ensure that what is most valuable about a Middlebury education - close student-faculty collaboration - is maintained and enhanced in the coming decade."

Because the faculty-student ratio is currently under discussion in the strategic planning process, Vice President for Academic Affairs Alison Byerly said that even with the current decrease, "any formal decision about changing the student-faculty ratio will follow the conclusion of the strategic planning process."

The current lower student-faculty ratio may also not address all the issues that have been raised pertaining to it over the past year. "Any lowering of the student-faculty ratio cannot hurt, and may well help, but magazines such as US News tend to change their methodology from year to year, so it's difficult to know what impact, if any, a change may have," said John Hanson, director of Admissions in response to whether the lower ratio will affect the ranking of Middlebury amongst its peer institutions. "Also, the student-faculty ratios at other institutions may also change in one direction or another, so our relative ranking among our peers may or may not change, even if our ratio does."

For now, however, the College is happy to have hired so many new faculty members. "We had an extremely successful recruiting season," said Byerly. "Because faculty positions are so specialized, it is sometimes difficult to identify the perfect candidate as well as have them accept your offer. But departments did an excellent job of recruiting top candidates who were happy to come to Middlebury."

Although the faculty hirings have positively affected the student-faculty ratio, they were not motivated by the explicit goal of lowering the ratio.

According to Byerly, "The administration chose to approve a number of additional positions for next year, above and beyond the standard FTE allocation, that were recommended by the faculty Educational Affairs Committee in order to address a variety of enrollment pressures and curricular demands." Byerly said that 16 of these new faculty positions will be tenure-track positions and 12 will be term positions.

Byerly went on to explain some of the exact staffing problems the new faculty will alleviate. "Two positions, for example, will help address enrollment pressures in Spanish, where interest continues to be strong, and in Economics, where class sizes are high due to heavy demand," she said.

Other newly hired faculty will act as an enhancement to the curriculum. "A new position that is a joint appointment in Chemistry and Environmental Studies will give environmental chemistry a stronger foothold in the Environmental Studies program," said Byerly. "One new hire in Political Science will add courses in the politics of the Middle East, while another Political Science colleague brings expertise in Africa. And a one-year Distinguished Visiting Scholar appointment is bringing Peter Plagens, a well-known art critic, to campus to teach. We hope that his appointment will help highlight the vital role played by the arts at Middlebury."

New professors have been hired in the following departments: German History, Environmental Chemistry, Religion, Medieval History of Art and Architecture, Economics, French Literature and Culture, Social Psychology, African Politics, International Politics, Classics, Philosophy and Spanish.