Pepperdine has been operating under the watchful eye of the Western Association of Schools & Colleges (WASC) in recent weeks — and WASC has been hard at work critiquing the university from every angle, ranging from academics to campus life. And with their presence, hopes are high for smaller majors to see a dramatic change in faculty.
Majors, especially those from the humanities and teacher education, international studies and languages and fine arts departments that are more specialized, such as creative writing, art history and journalism, consist of a very small group of students. Within these majors, the faculty is comprised of a choice few, or in some cases, a single professor.
With Pepperdine’s push for students to gather experience during their academic time here, having only one professor, especially in upper-division, about highly specific courses, does not foster this goal. In order to grow as students, it is necessary to have more than one or two professors teach every class in a major, because students are receiving limited exposure to many elements within their fields of study otherwise. A professor should be able to offer introductory knowledge on many subjects within a given major, but it is impossible for him or her to be an expert in every aspect; therefore, a student’s learning can only suffer from having limited exposure to diverse teaching staff.
The sudden focus on our university’s academics stems from WASC’s return to campus. WASC is responsible for awarding schools accreditation for complying with standards of quality based on a set of criteria that the accreditation committee has put together. Pepperdine is currently facing its final run-through with the accreditation committee. At the end of their visit, WASC will present the university with a meticulous accrual of their observations and research, while also suggesting how to change certain aspects of our university that they find lacking. They’ll also be awarding the university with its accreditation; let’s hope for our sake that Pepperdine doesn’t have too much to worry on that end.
Pepperdine prides itself on being an academic community in which a predominant focus is placed on students’ personal academic experience. Class sizes are relatively small in comparison with other universities, which means that student-faculty interaction is higher because Pepperdine students do not have to compete with hundreds of other students or be taught by a teaching assistant instead. With a 13:1 student-faculty ratio, our university places great emphasis in designing an academic program in which students have the ability to build relationships with their professors rather than remain faceless names on a roster.
But even though we enjoy this opportunity, faculty variety in our majors is very important. Pepperdine seems to be expanding its borders and its student population, which should also lead to growth in numbers in the smaller majors. As it stands, these majors that have a very small teaching staff cannot support growth, and if the population of these majors stagnates, it will become increasingly difficult to advertise the major as something worthwhile to incoming students.
Professors of smaller, less popular majors will also enjoy having more faculty members in their field because they will not have to stress over teaching courses that are not within their strengths and worry about giving students a shallow understanding of a topic. Their load will lessen and their focus will improve because they can afford to spend more time with students.
Diversity is a key component of creating a well-rounded educational experience, and making sure all majors are privy to faculty variety is a very welcome and necessary change. Students who take courses from a diverse teaching staff will be able to put that knowledge into practice more readily because they will be compiling fresh perspectives on course material, teaching styles and opinions into their own method of practice. This is especially important in majors that emphasize interpretation, theory and creativity, since students must be allowed to apply their knowledge outside of the classroom effectively. Creating a more diverse teaching staff will inevitably make students more prepared for their futures in graduate school or in the workforce, especially because it will increase their ability to think critically in a diverse environment.
Seaver College would benefit greatly from adding faculty to areas of departments that are neglected in comparison to our university’s most populated majors (the business and natural science departments). We cannot let the humanities students fall into the (considerable) shadow of the business department. It is imperative that students from all majors have the opportunity to receive the same attention, quality education and diversified experience to prepare them for their futures.