Ph.D.s To Fill Teaching Posts

The new College Fellows Program—which will recruit at least 20 recent Ph.D.s for one-year teaching appointments as part of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ cost-cutting efforts—is drawing mixed reactions from members of the Faculty.

Although the possibility of the program has been floated for some time, FAS began to seriously consider implementing it around November, when it became clear that the financial crisis was going to hit the University hard, said Dean of the Faculty Michael D. Smith.

Since Smith has slashed the number of visiting professorships for next year and the hiring slowdown will limit the number of new lecturers FAS will be able to hire, the new program provides an economical alternative to fill teaching vacancies.

While professors acknowledged that FAS needs to cut costs, some said the program may detract from the ladder faculty system. Others also voiced concern that the program may not be entirely beneficial for Fellows.

“It’s a fine program in economically straitened times,” said Classics Professor Richard F. Thomas. “But one wouldn’t want to see a substitute in any way for legitimate ladder appointments.”

“The maintenance of a system of ladder faculty is central for the health and vitality of this university and universities throughout the country,” he added.

English Professor Louis Menand said that he is worried the program may not be a service to Fellows in the long term, since it may leave postdocs jobless after their one-year stint.

“It’s really a way to get inexpensive teaching,” he said. “We need to make sure it’s good for them and we’re not just using them.”

The position—which History of Science Department Chair Anne Harrington described as “three quarters teaching and one quarter research”—places a much larger emphasis on teaching than ladder-faculty positions do.

Since the Fellows would be teaching “almost full time,” they may not have enough time to write and do research, said Gennaro Chierchia, chair of the Linguistics department.

Former Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis said that he is optimistic about the fact that the position places such a large emphasis on teaching, since it may signal a shift in the qualities sought in future professors.

“Just as the general competition goes up, so the bad news is that it’s harder to get a job at all in academia,” the computer science professor said. “The good news is that the supply is large relative to the demand, so the quality ought to increase in all good dimensions.”

At present, it is unclear whether or not the program will be temporary, but if the program does stay, some professors voiced worry that it may grow too large.

“What you don’t want is a program that gets bigger and bigger and shifts away from faculty,” said Sociology Department Chair Robert J. Sampson. “You want to maintain face in the classroom.”

Fourteen departments are now looking to appoint College Fellows to teach three classes over the course of their one-year stint.

The College Fellows program is already providing an alternative to replacing retiring professors with new ladder faculty. The Psychology, Anthropology, Government, History of Science, Sociology, and Economics departments are also currently looking for College Fellows to teach sophomore and junior tutorials.

Economics Department Chair James H. Stock said that there was “no question that [the program] would help” fill teaching demands, especially for tutorials, as the department depends heavily on visiting faculty.

—Noah S. Rayman and Elyssa A. Spitzer contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer Bonnie J. Kavoussi can be reached at kavoussi@fas.harvard.edu.