CMU faculty concerned with CLAS closing

As the CLAS Testing Center nears its last day, some professors are scrambling to revamp their lesson plans.

“I give three tests and a final,” said Charles Novitski, biology associate professor. “The fact that the Testing Center won’t be available means I will lose three class periods, and will have to cut 7 percent of the material I covered.”

Besides restructuring his class, Novitski said he will have to change his exams.

“The tests will have to be shorter and not as accurate.”

Other professors are dealing with the same problems.

Rob Bromley, accounting professor, said the CPA exam is changing to include 10 answer options instead of five. He structures his class exams to mirror the CPA exam so students will be ready. However, he is not sure if the Office of Information Technology, which will offer scanning services for professors, will be able to accommodate 10-option answer sheets. The CPA exam also is more complex, he said.

“Those exams include problems and they take time. What you get is a better indicator of students’ academic performance if they don’t have to rush. ... We like to have our students be successful at (the CPA exam).”

Phil Hertzler, biology assistant professor, said giving tests during class will reduce the time he has to teach students as well as the quality of the exams.

“For my classes, I’m going to give exams in class, and going to have to change the format quite a bit. For one thing, they’ll have to fit into 50 minutes,” he said. “When I have to test in a class period, it takes out a significant portion of class time.”

Don Peddie, physical education and sport associate professor, said most of his classes are taught in rooms without desks.

“A lot of our classes are taught in gymnasiums and turf rooms. A lot of them are theory classes, so the CLAS Testing Center was wonderful for us. I’m rather sad that it’s happening, but it is,” he said.

Norma Bailey, teacher education associate professor, said she generally teaches four sections of about 180 students in EDU 107: Introduction to Teaching each fall, and not having the Center to administer her tests will cause a lot of problems for her class.

“How do you give a test to 180 students in a lecture hall in a way that is not negative? And if we don’t test, how do we make sure we do the kids right every day?”

In a June 2 letter to University President Michael Rao and psychology Chairman Gary Dunbar, psychology Professor Susan Jacob said, “A return to in-class testing will negatively impact student learning in both my undergraduate and graduate classes. At the undergraduate level, I anticipate less frequent assessment will result in a decline in grades, and a greater number of course withdrawals.”

In a May 30 e-mail to all faculty, biology Professor Robert Bailey said, “In my BIO 101N (General Biology) classes, I use CLAS for giving seven unit exams, thereby capturing seven additional lecture periods, almost a 25 (percent) increase in classroom instruction time. In my view, the loss of CLAS is retrogressive and will force me to alter the model of instruction.”

Though Catherine Riordan, interim vice provost, was not available for comment, a June 4 e-mail to faculty said, “(The number of calls and e-mails with suggestions about how to keep the Testing Center open) led me to revisit with some members of the (Senior Staff Budget Advisory Group) the decision regarding CLAS. While there was a great deal of empathy with your concerns and the impact that closing CLAS will have, none of the solutions suggested are viable in the current financial context.”

Interim Assistant Vice Provost Tim Hartshorne clarified this idea in a phone conversation Tuesday. “The decision has been made by the administration and as far as I know the decision is final,” he said.

Since the administration announced the Center would close June 19, many professors called and e-mailed Riordan with suggestions as to generating funding to keep the Center open.

Some faculty said campus improvements should be stopped immediately. Others said CLAS could combine with the Faculty Center for Academic Excellence, and still others said administrator positions should be eliminated.

The Testing Center bought two scanners at a cost of about $13,000 and a computer at a cost of about $57,000 in December, said Duane Goupell, CLAS manager. One professor said this was obvious mismanagement of funds. Others point to those who have worked at CMU for many years and will lose their jobs as a result of this decision, such as Goupell, who has been at CMU for 28 1/2 years.

“Anytime anybody loses their job it’s a disappointment,” he said, but would not comment further on the Center closing.

Many professors said departments or students could be charged for using the Center.

“I have two suggestions: One, departmental contributions, perhaps weighted by use would not be unreasonable. ... And, two, redirecting a portion or all of the CMU Development Fund contributions we may make each year,” said Robert Bailey.

Hertzler said the cost of operating the Center, about $200,000, could be divided among all the students who use it and charged as a per-year fee. If divided equally among all undergraduate students, this would amount to about $10 per student per year.

Other faculty suggested cuts be made elsewhere.

“I think it’s awful a group of people who work hard and served the community well are losing their jobs. ... When I heard about it, I spent some time thinking about this, and I was wondering if Mrs. Rao’s position was eliminated. As far as I know, there is no job description for that position, there was never any search process for it,” said Mary Ann Renz, speech, communication and dramatic arts professor. “While I have no animosity toward her, I think it’s just feathering the president’s family’s nest. When people who have worked here for 25 years are losing their jobs, it seems like the exact wrong message to be sending to the campus community.”

Monica Rao is paid an annual salary of $25,000 as a campus ambassador.

Public Relations and Marketing Senior Officer Rich Morrison said Monica Rao was unavailable for comment.

“She’s still out of the country recruiting students, so I have no way of knowing (whether she’s considered an alternative),” he said.

Many faculty were unhappy about the way the decision was made.

“This is something that should have been discussed by the entire campus community, and should have come before the (Academic) Senate,” said John Hartman, journalism professor.

Novitski said the timing was not good, because there were few people on campus to consult.

“Maybe there are no mischievous intentions, but it appears all this is coming to light when most of the people who are affected are gone,” he said. “By the time the people who will be affected by the cut find out about it, those employees will all be gone.”

Some faculty said cutting the CLAS Testing Center went against some of the promises the Rao administration has made.

“I’m just a little frustrated because we’re trying to improve academic performance and this is directly related to not doing that,” Bromley said.

Hartman said he has heard rumors for several years that some members of the administration wanted to close the Center.

“The Rao administration decided they want to do away with the Testing Center, and used the budget crisis as an excuse,” he said. “This goes against the way Rao says he wants to run things, in a consensual way. The two major groups who should have been consulted were not. It isn’t a consensual decision; it was arbitrary.”

Novitski said eliminating the Center will negatively affect students.

“I always try to maintain the quality and standards of my classes, this is one more thing making that difficult. I think there are other places where they could find those funds,” he said.

Peddie said closing the Center would hurt students.

“I would certainly hope the administration would take another look at it. We say we don’t want to affect the students, but I think this affected the students, and not in a good way.”

Matt Coombs, Waterford senior, said he had no idea the testing center was closing and acted surprised at the news.

“It sucks because you can’t take (tests) whenever you want,” he said. “Some of the stuff they did is ridiculous. Instead of expanding so much they should concentrate on what we have to begin with.”