Dr. Monique T. Brodie joined PSU, The College of the Liberal Arts, English Department as Senior Lecturer of Business Writing, FA15. She has been teaching professionally at the college level for over (10) years. Dr. Brodie is the first “Fresh Perspectives” guest contributor.

An article which highlights differences between PSU and a small college is easy enough to produce, but the traditional comparison and contrast approach may not reveal interesting observations.
For example, the on-boarding process included a full week of interactive departmental orientation, coordinated by Dr. Cheryl Glenn, Director, Program in Writing and Rhetoric. As the semester progressed, Dan Tripp, Associate Director, Digital English Studio and Fall 2015 602 facilitator for 202D offered several 1:1 advising sessions. This type of indoctrination simply may not be necessary at a small college. However, after speaking with several PSU Lecturers, the comparison between PSU and a small college seems more complex. Perhaps, what matters most is not the size of the institution, but the non-tenure line teaching professors.

Teaching Professors: the Lecturer pool

Long standing instructors at PSU have amazing stories to tell. Some are professional educators, with 20+ years at PSU; like Mary Rohrer-Dann and Lorena Waselinko. Others have as many years’ experience when industry employment and service at PSU are combined; like Lisa Rhue Warren, Stephen Fonash, Al Holtzinger, II, and Stan Kranc. Experienced teaching professionals at PSU are skilled in classroom instruction, course schedule management, grading, and negotiating healthy work/life relationship. Yet, many have little time to inform others about their techniques. As such, these instructors may not realize their value to other teaching faculty or ever receive any recognition from the institution.

These and other Lecturers are the reason to celebrate teaching professionals. They demonstrate practical teaching artistry and evidence the importance of collegial friendships. As teaching faculty share their stories, others discover that building a network and joining a community also allows them to facilitate a student’s break-through and excel in the measurable deliverables evaluated by the department.

Students, final grades, and writing competency

Either the nature of students has not changed in twenty years or the institution has not evolved to provide a framework to support one of the largest pools of professionals employed by the university: teaching professors. This differs at PSU versus a small college. Or, perhaps, the difference stems from student and institutional perceptions of English Department curriculum versus other content areas. Regardless, students seem to perceive general education instructors and the curriculum as non-essential. Although all students are required to complete freshman composition and one course in the 202 series for graduation, students may not approach these courses with academic rigor; instead, they resist instructor feedback regarding writing standards.

As if assessments are based on feelings and not writing competency, some PSU students seem to rely on pathos alone as they bargain rather than work for grades. This is rhetorically illogical and shows disregard for individual personality traits among teaching professionals. More so than students at a small college, some PSU students seem to perceive English Department teaching writing professionals as vulnerable and sympathetic to their personal situations. And, their personal situations always interfere with attending class, participating in peer-to-peer activities, contributing to in-class discussion, or completing syllabus assignments. Teaching writing faculty is assumed to have time to entertain student pathos.

Some students leverage extracurricular affiliations to hustle for grades; while others bully instructors through email or during classroom instruction. There is nothing original about students negotiating for (+/-) to improve their final course grade, but the aggressive effort among some PSU students is disturbing, especially students who lack writing skills. At a small college, student writers may differentiate themselves in other ways; like by dedicating oneself to writing remediation through tutoring.

Build a network and join a community

During an informal meeting, Dr. Keith Gilyard, Senior Faculty Mentor through the Office of Educational Equity and Professor of English and African American Studies, shared an observation on how to acclimate to the PSU culture at-large. Gilyard explained that a big university is actually just several smaller institutions under one name, with shared core values. The takeaway, instructors new to PSU or new to college level instruction, must find a community of colleagues, build a professional and social network, and reciprocally seek and provide the support necessary for both personal growth and professional development.

Professional development, however, seems to be a cul-de-sac on the career path for those in the Lecturer pool. Depending upon the contract, Lecturers or teaching professors (versus tenure-line research faculty) may have up to 96 or more student writers across four or more English composition course sections. After weekly classes, office hours, committees and service obligations, grading, and planning, even an experienced instructor has little time for anything else. At a small college, professional development and a professional development mentor may create a plan designed to help a non-tenure line teaching professor to – develop. Such development includes a range of scholarly activities which enable the instructor to contribute to the department, while self-actualizing. 602s allow teaching faculty to teach a variety of courses, but that is just more of the same and more is just more. For Lecturers, professional development at PSU is similar to job training.

Final thoughts

PSU, The College of the Liberal Arts differs from a small college in the professional treatment of teachers, how students understand their role within the instructional organization, and organic community. Still, to Gilyard’s point, one may start to build a network or join a community during Final Friday’s with Dr. Josephine Pirrone at Whiskers; an inclusive space to decompress, exchange stories and (re)connect with other Lecturers.