Turnover hits English Department

Central Michigan University’s English department is losing seven members of its faculty.

The number represents 22 percent of its tenured and tenure track faculty members.

For Heidi Holder, the decision to leave her tenured position in the department was in the best interest of her family.

“I am leaving CMU to end an increasingly burdensome commute,” Holder said.

Holder will relocate to the University of Massachusetts Amherst, closer to where she and her husband reside.

In addition to Holder, others expected to depart include Kim Chinquee, Rochelle Harris, Susan Larkin, Laura Renzi-Keener, Beth Samuelson and Stephenie Young.

To fill the void, the department is searching for temporary faculty to teach the vacated courses until new tenure track faculty are hired.

Graduate students will not receive additional responsibilities; they teach English 101 only and are limited to a maximum of two sections per semester.

Although this is a higher number than usual, it is quite common for departments to experience a loss in faculty members because of individuals choosing retirement or pursuing professional opportunities elsewhere.

“I think it is important to understand that it is not unusual for departments to lose faculty,” said Pamela Gates, associate dean in the College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences, in an e-mail to Central Michigan Life.

Associate Vice Provost Robert Martin said the only difference between tenure and tenure track faculty is that tenure track faculty are subject to an annual reappointment process.

Tenure track professors must perform the yearly evaluations for an average of six to seven years.

“Both are members of CMU’s regular faculty,” Martin said.

The non-returning faculty held positions in differing disciplines throughout the English Department.

For some, their areas of expertise may be best-suited at research universities, Gates said.

“People make decisions that are best suited to their own personal and professional needs,” she said.”There are no plans to cancel any classes at this point,” Gates said.

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