This year's extensive state budget cuts, a 26 percent SUNY tuition hike and an increased student enrollment rate are all having far-reaching affects on UB students and faculty alike.
These factors, combined with the loss of two prominent professors, have placed the English department in a delicate situation; however, many administrators say that the department is holding its own, for now.
"We are doing very well, well as can be expected given budget downturns," said Robert Newman, associate professor and director of undergraduate studies in English. "Tuition hikes are severe, or worse. We're making the best of a bad lot."
The department took a hard hit this year when poetics program founders Robert Creeley, Samuel P. Capen professor of poetry and the humanities, and Charles Bernstein, David Gray professor of poetry and letters took positions at Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania, respectively.
"Bernstein and Creeley - that's two major losses," said Uday Sukhatme, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "But this means we're looking for two star replacements."
According to Newman, the department has authorization to recruit for two shared professorships and an Asian-American specialist at the assistant professorship level.
Joseph Conte, professor and chairman of the English Department, said the department's attrition rate is at an equilibrium for the moment, with eight faculty member additions and eight departures in the past five years.
"Eight for eight means we're still at 42 (faculty members), and that's good," said Conte. "There's been just enough hiring thanks to the dean's office and the provost, but I'd like to see us at 45."
Department Seeks Young Blood
This year's newest hire is novelist and assistant professor of prose fiction and creative writing Christina Milletti.
"Christina Milletti represents, in a sense, the next generation of innovative novelists," Conte said. He said that both undergraduate and graduate students would be excited by her writing methods and teaching style.
According to Conte, Milletti's work represents new modes of fiction such as hypertext fiction and cybernetic fiction.
"She writes highly inventive prose not only with enjoyable characters but also new forms of organization," said Conte.
"As long as we're hiring people like Christina Milletti - youthful, dynamic, bright young faculty - then the department's future is also bright," Conte said. "If we fail to do that, it could be curtains."
Newman noted a long-term decline in the number of professors.
"Twenty years ago, I remember having 70 to 75 faculty members in the department. Now I see 40 to 45," said Newman. "There's been an enormous loss over the years. We cannot lose many more without losing crucial areas the English department has to have."
Conte said a faculty of less than 40 members would render the department unable to meet the demands of its students. According to Conte, 19 professors - approximately 45 percent of the faculty - are currently over 60 years of age and could be looking toward retirement.
"It is always a risk you'll have more departures than you can do recruitments," he said. "We have an aging faculty, and the dean's office knows this well. If we drop too low in prestige and numbers, we can no longer carry out our mission."
Yet Sukhatme said he sees promise in the spots the department has to fill. "They have some very strong applications," he said. "The title chair carries a lot of prestige."
"There is No Money"
Elizabeth D. Capaldi, provost for Academic Affairs, said although the budget from the state for education was poor this year, the English department is faring well.
"Nobody got new money. There is no money," said Capaldi. "It's a very important department though, so we want to maintain the quality there."
Capaldi explained the relation of individual department budgets to student enrollment.
"We earn money by attracting students," said Capaldi. "The deans put it where it needs to go."
The College of Arts and Sciences has had 37 new hires this year, including Milletti.
"The provost tries to see that the money is as transparent to the deans as possible," said Sukhatme. "She leaves it to the deans to make the best academic choices."
The College of Arts and Sciences has been able to provide the funding needed to compensate for changes in the department, according to Conte.
"All of the graduates who have teaching assistantships are funded by the College of Arts and Sciences," said Conte.
He noted that even with the tuition increase, the college was able to make up the difference in English student stipends, even with a record 55 new master's degree students. Undergraduate enrollment has grown as well, from 367 students in the fall of 1996 to 510 in the spring of 2003.
Newman noted a number of recent enhancements for the department, including cross-listed classes from comparative literature and media studies, as well as the possibility of the new journalism certificate.
"Our certificate program in journalism is being approved in Albany right now, and that will be an attractive addition," said Newman. The certificate program combines courses from the English, communication and media study departments.
With enrollment on the rise, many departments face too many students without enough professors or class space, according to Conte.
"The bonanza of enrollment means the faculty-student ratio is not as good as it was in the past," Conte said. "The English department has one advantage: because we're a writing-intensive department, our class sizes are not much larger than 45 students."
Instead of stuffing more students into disappearing class space, the department is adding 10 composition classes to compensate for higher numbers in the English 101 general education requirement, and the College of Arts and Sciences is putting forth the money, said Conte.
"The provost and dean's office are providing support for writing instruction," Conte said. "We have adequate seats for students who need those general education classes."
