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Eight full-time faculty cut for 2009-2010
By Paula Wilder
Staff Writer
Eight full-time faculty
members will not have their
contracts renewed for the
2009-2010 academic year.
They are visiting professors
who were hired with one-,
two-, or three- year contracts.
These cuts will be felt by
students, existing faculty, and
of course the professors who
will no longer have jobs.
According to Adrienne
Israel, vice president for
academic affairs and academic
dean, all of these positions
were expected to end. Budget
cuts and a decrease in
enrollment size played a role
in determining the number
of faculty that were not
renewed, but Israel stated that
these were not the only factors
involved in the decisions.
"The vast majority of
visiting professors are on a
year-to-year basis depending
on whether we need those
positions," said Israel. "They
provide flexibility for the
college and all of the faculty
understand that if you are
not tenured then there is
always the possibility of non
renewal."
In Fall 2008, Campus
Ministry Coordinator and
Friends Center Director
Max Carter spoke with the
budget committee about the
approaching the budget cuts
using Quaker principles.
"During the depression,
the college faculty and staff
took a one-third pay cut so the
community could continue
as a whole," said Carter. "In
light of that, I suggested that
upper- level faculty and staff
take a voluntary reduction in
See "Faculty” on page 2
Rabbi Ben Packer speaks
abeut Gaza crisis
By Megan Feil
News Editor
In response to rising
death tolls in the Gaza
Strip, Hillel invited Rabbi
Ben Packer to speak in
the community center on
Jan. 21.
"We decided to hold
this discussion when our
school did nothing to
educate students about
it," said Joseph Fox,
co-president of Hillel.
"Remember when the
economy collapsed and
Guilford had a group
of top faculty from the
school discuss it? I wish
Guilford would have
done something for
this situation. The fact
that it was lacking is
atrocious."
Members of Hillel
arranged for Rabbi
Packer, who served in the
Israeli army as a combat
soldier in the Gaza Strip,
to hold a two-part event
starting with an hour-
long presentation of a
condensed history of
Gaza. He discussed the
significance of its location
as a historical trade route
and its earliest religious
connections to the current
waves of cease-fires and
violence.
A group of about 60
Rabbi Ben Packer speaks in the community center on
Jan. 21. Hillel invited Packer to address Guilford students
about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.
students, faculty, staff,
and community members
absorbed the information,
though afterwards,
some commented on the
partisan nature of the
historical account.
"I don't believe in
objectivity; his telling of
the history was accurate
for the most part, except
he left out some specifics,"
said Maria Rosales,
assistant professor of
political science. "Some
examples are exactly
See "Gaza" on page 4
College reports 95 percent 2008^09 persistence rate
By Deena Zaru
Senior Writer
"The national media is very concerned
with retention statistics but I wish that they
would pay more attention to persistence,"
said Aaron Fetrow, dean of students. "Yes,
first-second year retention is important but
the key is persistence. We don't just want to
see students get to their sophomore year. We
want to see them graduate."
Because retention looks at how many first
time, full-time students return for the second
year, Fetrow said that persistence rates
are more inclusive and therefore are more
telling of how well the entire student body
is functioning.
"Persistence statistics measure how many
students total return from the fall semester
to the spring," said Fetrow. "Persistence
includes first years, sophomores, juniors,
seniors and CCE students."
However, Vice President for Enrollment
and Campus Life Randy Doss said that
persistence rates for CCE students are
calculated separately because CCE students
"generally have a lot more to worry about
like jobs and families."
These circumstances are echoed in the
results of the data collection.
The nine-year average of traditional
student persistence from fall to spring is 91
percent, while the nine-year average for CCE
students is 81 percent.
In terms of retention, Doss said that since
many CCE students are not first time college
students and transfer to Guilford, they are
rarely included in these figures.
This retention rate of 68 percent is a figure
that was released Oct. 1, 2008, and measures
how many of last year's first year students
returned this year as sophomores.
According to Doss, persistence is calculated
from Oct. 1 to Feb. 1 of every year.
See "Persistence" on page 4
Student Retention and Peniftence Ratee at Guilford
School Y«r
200IH)i 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005^ 2006H17 200N»
100%
90%
i
V
I 80%
%
0 70%
60%
0%
Nasimeh Easton/Guilfordian