At its Oct. 2 meeting, the Texas State Faculty Senate discussed concerns over whether faculty resources can keep up with the university’s growing student enrollment.
The Faculty Senate meets monthly with the President’s Academic Advisory Group. After Faculty Senate Chair Lynn Ledbetter asked for the senate what they would want to address in the meeting, many professors raised concerns about tenure and faculty resources.
“As we are building up our campus with a population of students, infrastructure and everything, how are we going to cater them if we do not have the number of faculties or staff?” Piyush Shroff, faculty senator from the mathematics department said.
Steve Wilson, a faculty senator from the English department, expressed concern that after six retirements last year, only two tenure lines were returned, suggesting a shift toward increased reliance on adjunct faculty.
Tenured faculty are full-time instructors with indefinite contracts who cannot be dismissed without just cause, such as severe financial issues. They often receive higher pay and benefits compared to non-tenured faculty.
The American Association of University Professors states tenure protects faculty from being fired for controversial research or publications, promoting stability and stronger community ties.
“Enrollment growth continues to expand, but the infrastructure stays the same,” Michael Supancic, faculty senator from the criminal justice department said. “We’re well behind and we’re going to catch up to having now 40,000 students, but the staff and the faculty have not grown exponentially with that growth in the student population.”
The faculty senate also raised concerns about Texas State’s reserve balance, which are funds set aside as general savings. This worry comes after the university incurred financial losses due to the cancellation of the September presidential debate.
“It was $2.8 million to apply [to be a presidential debate host site], and we got returned because it did get canceled, from the president’s commission,” Supancic said. “We got back $1.8 million, but that left us with a deficit of around $975,000. Well, was that taken from the reserve to pay that fee?”
The senate also discussed Texas State’s 2024 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report, which the university released on Thursday, Sept. 26.
The U.S. Department of Education investigated Texas State for failing to accurately report crime statistics in 2016 and 2017. Since then, the university improved its reporting practices, with senators now reviewing the data to ensure its accuracy.
The senators expressed concern over the high number of liquor and drug law violation referrals. In 2023, there were 324 liquor law violations and 67 drug law violations reported on campus.
“There was a decrease in many cases from 2020 in certain categories, but there’s still some exceptionally alarming… the liquor law violations and drug violations,” Kevin Jetton, a faculty senator from the information systems and analytics department. “I’m just wondering if buried in here is some kind of roadmap or game plan to try… to mitigate some of these things.”
The senate addressed parking service issues after Dale Blasingame, a faculty senator from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, reported a faculty member in contact with parking services said only one student is currently checking for tickets.
Blasingame added that he was told that faculty have accumulated thousands of dollars in debt with parking services, which cannot collect the owed funds. Additionally, Blasingame said the same faculty member reported faculty members have also been parking in handicapped spots, as ticketing has not deterred them.
Noland Martin, a faculty senator from the biology department, voiced concerns about the lack of parking on campus, which has left faculty unable to find spaces within a reasonable walking distance to their classes and unable to do it within a reasonable amount of time.
The Faculty Senate convenes at 4 p.m. every Wednesday. For more information, visit the its website.
