Communication majors are worried a lack of faculty in that department could make graduating difficult.
“I love my major but it’s so hard to get into the right classes,” said Ben Stimets, a junior communication major.
The department and curriculum are friendly, but there are not enough faculty members for this popular major that is in high demand, Stimets said.
According to Russell Kivatisky, chair of the Communication Department, a lack of funds led to the lack of faculty.
“USM as a whole faces the same problem and is in need of more funding. Our department is growing rapidly and faculty seems to be depleting,” said Kivatisky.
There are about 225 declared communication majors and only five professors. This in comparison to the English Department, there are roughly the same amount of majors, but with 20 full-time and 30 part-time professors, according to the Registrar’s Office.
“The lack of faculty has definitely created an issue; it is a central issue for the department,” said Leonard Shedletsky, professor of communication.
According to Shedletsky the growing problem is not going to keep a student from graduating.
“When you think about it, there are not too many schools with our student/teacher ratio, and we should consider ourselves fortunate,” said Shedletsky.
Shedletsky offered one solution, called distance education, in which students can enroll in a course without physically attending a class. Students from various cities watch a televised professor and communicate with microphones.
The only setback is finding available channels and Internet access to correspond with the virtual parts of the course, Shedletsky said.
Another option for students is summer courses.
“I want to make sure I can graduate on time, so I am going to stack up on communication courses over the summer when the demand for them isn’t as high,” said Tanya Quintal, a junior communication major.
Quintal plans to take two or three communication courses during the summer.
Even though summer classes are offered, the selection is limited by the availability of faculty.
“Historically, all the other departments at USM have more faculty,” said Kivatisky. Even though the Communication Department was established in the early 70s, it has always been smaller then the other departments.”
Having more then 800 alumni with a degree in communication shows that even though there is a lack of faculty, the department does everything in its power to get its students into the right courses to fill requirements, Kivatisky said. Faculty even established a curriculum backup, which allows seniors to enroll before underclassmen.
The department also managed to adjust funds from the weekend college budget to add communication classes on Fridays for people who couldn’t attend classes during the week, Kivatisky said.
Kivatisky is eager to improve class scheduling. “We don’t like it any more than the students do, and we will continue to try our best to keep everyone happy.”
Contributing Writer Jackie Pitcairn can be reached at: [email protected]