Directed Study: Not an Option

I hate discussing problems without having thought of a solution, whether completely practical or not, yet occasionally it is worthwhile to mention difficulties encountered if only so that other people know of its existence.

This being my fourth full year in Yeshiva University, I discovered that my choices for courses in my major this semester were extremely limited, and I therefore attempted to take a Direct Study. A Direct Study is a course offered at YU that is not being offered this semester (or for a student who can't make the official class time), which a student wishes to study. A student needs merely to get a faculty member to agree to meet privately with the student in a tutor fashion and the student can learn all the material normally covered in the course. Depending on the course, the student might even get more out of it, as the pace will be set by that single student and the lectures or discussions are one-on-one with a member of our excellent faculty.

Unfortunately, however, it is not the simplest feat in the world to get a faculty member to agree to a Direct Study as all full-time professors at YU are obligated by contract to teach four courses. Most other universities require only three courses per professor, however YU likes to believe that it gets the most out of each faculty member. I would think that the ramifications of YU's ability to push each professor to the limit is that no professor has time for anything beyond preparing for class and grading papers and exams.

What I find completely amazing is how much time the professors give to extra-curricular activities. There are a decent number of faculty members on the Senate, others who work on the Honors Program, and still more who donate time to the academic advisement center. This does not even include the weekly department head, or cluster head meetings that go on, or the office hours they put in, and to be honest, I don't think I know even half of what the professors do. Some professors even overlap in these extra duties.

I have to say that I am extremely grateful to the faculty for all they do to continually improve my university. I know that the compensation they receive for their actions is woefully poor compared to that given to professors at other universities, and I am therefore even more-so appreciative of their devotion to the school and the students.

One effect is that no professor has time to agree to a Direct Study. Some professors that I spoke to about the possibility mentioned that the time factor was the largest problem, and that they'd be willing to overlook the practically non-existent pay given. Professors, in a Direct Study, must put in the same amount of time as a full class, both in preparation and in lecturing the student. How much did one professor I spoke to net for a Direct Study last time? A whopping $75. Impressive, isn't it?

The fact that most professors I spoke were willing to consider agreeing if not for the fact that they had no time, even in lieu of the lacking stipend, is again a tribute to the dedication of the faculty to the students. Yet, it was most frustrating to ask one faculty member after the next about the course I wanted to take only to be told that no-one had time. While some faculty members did have time, they were adjunct professors, and therefore not allowed to give a Direct Study by university rules.

Admittedly, to have a student attend YU on-campus for four years is not the norm, yet that should not be a reason to allow the Direct Study courses to wallow unutilized. Consider the new restrictions on transfer credits into YU as well as the extended on-campus period the Honors students will need, and suddenly the prospect of more full four-year students seems a probable reality. My prediction is that Direct Studies will be requested more often, as well they should, and there fore I believe that we have a problem on our hands. Students should have this possibility available to them in more than the promise of the course catalog.

I'm going to propose two possible solutions, and we can use them as a first step to solving the problem. The first is simply to allow adjunct professors to teach these course. This would be a departure from current policy, however, current policy fails in this regard, and many of the part-time faculty have the required degrees and more importantly knowledge necessary to teach these courses. If YU doesn't want to make a new cart-blanche rule, it could make decisions on a case-by-case basis. The second possibility is to inquire with Dr. Lowengrub as to whether he can secure special funds to bolster the shallow compensation for these courses. This second solution still has time constraints, in that professors with not enough time won't gain it due to larger paychecks, however, it may help encourage the faculty to try to squeeze in a course every once in a while.

The Senate will discuss this issue next week and I'm hoping that they can reach a solution, whether one of their own design or one I've listed here. Hopefully next semester if a student desires to take a Direct Study, he can get a professor to agree.