University Times

Maintaining that "there is a lot of teaching going on at research universities that is not classroom instruction," Provost James Maher defended the number of hours that Pitt faculty spend in the classroom during a hearing by the state House of Representatives' Select Committee on Higher Education on Sept. 14.

But committee Chair Rep. John Lawless, R-Montgomery County, was not impressed by Maher's comments, or those of the other administrators from state-owned and state-related universities who testified. He told the University Times: "The administrators of the universities are singing the same song time after time. They're in a defense mode versus a pro-active mode to reform the cost of higher education." The Sept. 14 hearing, which focused on teaching loads and travel policies, was the third conducted by the Lawless committee since July. Earlier hearings looked at sabbatical leaves and tuition benefits programs for the children and spouses of employees of state-owned and state-related universities.

A fourth session, slated for Oct. 26 in Harrisburg, will be a discussion among committee members and administrators from state-owned and state-related universities to re-address issues that emerged during the hearings and try to find common ground for reform.

"My hope is that the colleges will come forward with ideas on their own on how we can change and reform the cost of higher education in Pennsylvania," Lawless said. "I think we have to move the administrators and presidents of these colleges out of their own little world of education and make them recognize that the economy in Pennsylvania dictates that people cut back." Lawless noted that businesses in Pennsylvania are cutting back on health care and other benefits and laying off workers, "and education just can't continue to get its increases every year and believe it is exempt from any economic impact." Earlier this year, Lawless unveiled a higher education legislation package that, if enacted into law, would phase out tuition benefits for the children and spouses of faculty and staff; require that 80 percent of full professors teach at least 12 credit hours of classes each semester before their university could receive state funding; eliminate honoraria for speakers employed at a university receiving state funds when they speak at another institution that receives state funds, and prohibit faculty union representatives from being paid by their institution while on union business.

Lawless told the University Times that he does not know when he will introduce his legislative package to the House and that it could completely change by the time his committee's hearings are over. "I have to allow myself to be open to suggestions [for reform], too," he said. "This is not a one-way street." As an example of how teaching takes place outside of the classroom at research universities, Maher pointed to what he called a typical organic chemistry professor with 30 graduate students, each of whom is working on a different project.

Maher told the legislators that the professor needs to talk to each of those students every day. Some of the discussions might only be five minutes long, but others might continue for two hours, during which time the student actually is being taught by the professor. "That adds up to an enormous amount of time that the professor is spending teaching those students," Maher noted, "but none of it counts as classroom hours." Maher said that when the time professors use preparing for lectures, grading exams and homework, and talking to students outside the classroom is factored into the equation, they are investing a large number of hours in teaching students. Working with students on a one-to-one basis outside the classroom also allows faculty to re-educate themselves and stay up to date in their fields, according to Maher, and so do a better job of training the professionals and scholars Pennsylvania and the nation will need to compete internationally in the future.

"The future work force of Pennsylvania is being trained today and the sophisticated end of the work force is being trained at Pitt and Penn State," Maher said.

The provost noted, too, that research conducted by the state's research universities contributes substantially to Pennsylvania's economy. In 1993, Pitt brought $240 million in federal research money into western Pennsylvania, while Penn State received $260 million and Temple $25 million.

Maher also defended the University's travel policies and expenses associated with them. Maher said that Pitt is one of only two universities in the nation that has five federally designated centers for international studies. They are East European studies, West European studies, Latin American studies, East Asian studies and international business.

"We cannot maintain the pre-eminent role in international studies if our faculty cannot travel, if our faculty and students cannot have international experience," he told the committee. "We work hard at keeping our faculty in all of our disciplines and professions aware of international issues and involved in international interactions."

–Mike Sajna