Despite the Student Assembly's resolution last term calling for a more open process in hiring new faculty for the Education Department, Assembly President Jorge Miranda '01 said he thinks too much is going on behind closed doors.
Although Dean of the Faculty Ed Berger had previously assurred Miranda that a student would be incoporated into the hiring committee, Miranda said that Berger later retracted his promise.
"I feel like [Berger's] going back [on his word] takes us back in terms of the Student Assembly-administrative relationship," he said.
The process has remained secretive and student input has been systematically ignored, Miranda added. Head of the hiring committee, David Blanchflower, as well as Education professors Andrew Garrod and Randy Testa refused to comment on the faculty search.
Regarding his conversations with Berger last term about a student member serving on the hiring committee, Miranda said, "When I asked him he replied 'No problem' ... He said he'd get back to me in written form to express all that."
Berger admitted to The Dartmouth that he informed Miranda that it would be possible to allow a student to assume a position on the hiring committee.
"I said that, in principle, I saw no reason why students couldn't play an active role in the search if they were really motivated and willing to put in the time," he said of his conversation with Miranda.
Despite Berger's assurance, however, the committee still felt the nature of the search was confidential and refused to allow a student to join.
"All hiring of faculty is done by faculty; that's just the way it's done," Berger told The Dartmouth yesterday.
Consequently, when Berger's letter arrived on the floor of the Student Assembly late last term, no mention was made of the addition of a student member.
Miranda reported feeling "disappointed" by the conspicuous omission.
Neither of the Assembly's two major proposals -- the inclusion of a voting or non-voting student member on the hiring board and the presentation of a public forum on the future of the Education department -- has been integrated into the faculty search. Miranda noted the rejection of the proposals was done without explanation. He added that the hiring committee has "politely ignored" the Assembly's recommendations.
He added that the improvement and strengthening of this very affiliation had been one of his key campaign platforms last fall and that, since his induction into office, he has continued to attempt to foster its growth.
Miranda is even discontent with what he calls the minimal attempts that the hiring committee has made in order to involve students in the process.
According to Miranda, scheduling conflicts during final examinations and a short two-day notice to students were responsible for meager student attendance at last term's lecture presentations of Kevin Dunbar and Laura Petitto, both of whom are possible candidates for the new appointments in the department.Although he admitted that "faculty hiring can't be an entirely open process," he did say that he felt that certain Assembly proposals -- especially the inclusion of a student on the hiring committee familiar with both the courses and current faculty and who "really care[d] about the department" -- could only improve the process.
"After all, in '96 it was students who saved the department," he said, referring to the 300-student protest against an external committee's recommendation that the department be eliminated from the College.
Yet Berger defended the decision of the committee to maintain secrecy.
"There are things said about faculty in confidential letters that the faculty think should stay at that level," he explained.
"At some institutions it's even more closed than at Dartmouth," he pointed out.
Despite the historical turmoil and uncertainty surrounding the Education Department, Berger told The Dartmouth last November that the Dean of the Faculty's office hoped to "rebuild" it over the next few years.
In response Berger's statement, Miranda reiterated some already widespread student fears.
"What [Berger] seemed to be implying is, 'wipe the slate clean and start over,'" he said, adding that many students are happy with both the type of faculty and current curriculum of the department and would be distressed by more than cosmetic changes.
In a clarification of his statement, however, Berger noted the "rebuild[ing]" of the department would not in fact entail such a sweeping change. In fact, he said, he simply hopes to add enough professors in order to return the department to its previous size.
"Rebuilding means sort of getting back to where it was," he said in a clarification of his previous statement, adding that in the past the department had employed five professors, while currently it contains only one under tenure.
"If they really care about student opinion then they're just really going about it the wrong way," Miranda said. "They are not really taking seriously the need to have students involved and engaged in the search."
