Student groups fight to reinstate pink-slipped lecturers

CORRECTION:The version of this article that ran in print on June 7 contained an error. Although sociology department chair William Roy’s office was contacted several times, the undergraduate office of sociology was not.

Early this fall, sociology lecturers Terri Anderson and Mark Jepson, who have each taught at UCLA for over 20 years, were handed pink slips.

They were laid off because the department could not afford to support the size of the current faculty.

In the college hierarchy, lecturers such as Anderson and Jepson hold a lower status than professors. As a result, lecturers in various departments were asked to leave in light of the recent budget cuts.

“The university, due to the drastic reduction in state funding and state support, is undergoing a top-to-bottom review of all academic departments,” said Phil Hampton, UCLA spokesman. “The university is committed to ensuring the continued academic excellence of programs at UCLA, while making operations of programs consistent with new funding realities.”

Hampton emphasized the importance of this message to students and campus members, as university officials are working to ensure that departments and programs maintain their standards despite budget cuts.

When she heard Anderson and Jepson would be laid off, Stephanie Chiang, a fourth-year sociology student, and others started a group called “Save Our Sociology!” or SOS.

The group started a Facebook page encouraging students to write letters to administrators, including social sciences dean Alessandro Duranti, to ask for contract extensions.

The page currently has more than 350 members, including William Roy, the department chair. Roy did not respond to multiple requests for interviews.

Anderson and Jepson ultimately had their pink slips rescinded. But according to Anderson, the lecturers were still laid off for the 2011-2012 academic year since they signed a contract agreeing to give them a year’s notice before being released.

Hampton said a number of lecturers received layoff notices last summer. A collective bargaining agreement with the union requires advance to lay off lecturers, Hampton said.

“The vast majority of those layoff notices were rescinded based on bridge funding ““ temporary funding ““ provided by the chancellor’s office,” Hampton said.

Hampton added that he could not comment on specific personnel cases.

In addition to notices to Anderson and Jepson, the communication studies department also gave lecturer Pamela Hobbs a pink slip asking her to “discontinue employment at UCLA” in fall 2010 due to budget cuts, said Elizabeth Landaw, assistant dean of sociology and social sciences.

Similar to SOS, fourth-year communication studies student Uzayr Humkar urged classmates to write letters to the deans and chancellor to rescind Hobbs’ pink slip.

Hobbs has been a lecturer at UCLA for over five years and teaches a variety of classes, including Communications Studies 101, a requirement for all communication studies majors.

“It is a huge loss to have somebody so educated and experienced to be laid off. … I don’t believe there is anybody else who can teach (Comm Studies 101) as well as Pamela Hobbs,” said Fareeha Molvi, a fourth-year communication studies student.

However, student efforts are not solely responsible for the reinstatement of lecturers, as there have been other student requests to reinstate lecturers that the university was unable to meet, Landaw said. Communication studies department manager Jane Bitar could not be reached for comment.

Additionally, Landaw said it is impossible to say whether lecturers, such as Hobbs, will be reinstated in the future as funding depends on the state budget. The university will have to make course readjustments to cope with the loss of Hobbs and others.

“These are very difficult … circumstances involving complex details and requiring a great deal of … consideration by all individuals in all departments,” Hampton said.

The budget cuts have also caused reductions in the number of classes offered by some departments.

The political science department dropped its Allied Field requirement to give political science students a wider variety of upper division classes to take, said Kathleen Bawn, an associate professor in the department.

One major, economics/international area studies, was canceled entirely. The cancellation stems from a lack of demand as well as from the emergence of other majors that offer similar curricula. This will not affect the faculty in the economics department, said Dounia Sadeghi, undergraduate academic adviser for the economics major.

Departmental changes this year stemmed in part from efforts to meet the standards of “Challenge 45″ ““ a university initiative intended to reduce the upper-division requirements to 45 units for all majors.

Taking this into account, departments took a serious look at their curriculum and made improvements deemed most effective. Several department heads said they felt streamlining the curriculum was beneficial.

“Even without budget problems, it’s probably a good idea for departments to periodically re-evaluate their major requirements,” Bawn said.