After seeing class sizes grow because of budget cuts, now lecturers face losing their job.

Tutors for the Writing Tutorial Program may have a harder time teaching freshmen students about synonyms next semester.

Though the term “laid off” is not being used, at least 16 lecturers in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing Studies were told there might not be any classes for them to teach during the spring semester.

“The lecturers’ contracts say that if there aren’t enough courses or students to teach, then their contracts are contingent on student enrollment,” Michael Underwood, the director of the writing tutorial program, said. “The university has decided to let fewer students in, so we’ll have fewer classes, of course.”

Lecturer Jamie Madden said the decision about how many classes and how many lecturers needed to teach those courses is not yet definite.

“Our department opens classes based on student demand,” Madden said. “We can’t really determine the number of classes or how many lecturers we will need to teach those courses for sure until students complete the registration process.”

Lower division classes in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing Studies typically have about 28 students per class, Madden said. The teaching focuses on improving writing skills and mastering the argumentative college essay 8212; skills a student must obtain in order to successfully complete their college education.

Department lecturers were informed about the enrollment situation with a letter and a sit-down meeting with Madden, a courtesy that some lecturers in other departments may not receive.

“Some teachers are just getting an e-mail from the chair of the department about the possibility that they won’t have a job next semester,” said a lecturer in another department, who wished to remain anonymous.

“Of course I’m mad that I’m being cut,” the lecturer said. “But it’s a problem that is across the board in all the departments.”

Madden said her department is just trying to let professors know about the situation in advance.

“I think mostly we’ve been trying to give people a “heads-up’ and let them think about their future options,” Madden said. “We’re making lecturers aware of the enrollment situation, but there haven’t been any firm or final decisions made until we know how many classes we can offer based on student demand.”

Underwood said tutors will continue working in the classrooms and there will be little change for students who need extra help with their writing skills.
“Since the remedial development classes are taught by city teachers those students won’t be suffering,” he said.

Some teachers have already begun looking elsewhere for jobs, even if they have not yet received notice that there will be no classes for them to teach, Underwood said.

“Probably people who are close to the next group might be looking elsewhere too,” Underwood said. “One of my colleagues is thinking about getting her résumé ready just in case.”

One lecturer, who wished to remain anonymous because she said that speaking on the record “is a risk I just can’t take,” thought that if the university would reallocate money and priorities away from sporting events then San Diego State would not be forced to lose teachers.

“I know the football program really helps people who wouldn’t have the opportunity to go to school otherwise, and it’s a wonderful opportunity to instill diversity on our campus, but if that money were spent more wisely, we wouldn’t have such a problem and we wouldn’t be cutting teachers,” the lecturer said.

Underwood said some of the teachers who will not have classes in the spring might be offered to teach classes during the summer.

Though some professors are aware of the possibility that there won’t be classes for them to teach, Madden said, nothing is set in stone.

“If that does happen, there are some really dedicated and talented instructors who care a lot about their students,” she said. “This would be a sad loss for the San Diego State community. We hope it’s only a temporary loss, if it does happen.”