Faculty Praised as SDSU Kicks Off a Yearlong Salute to Its Professors

A yearlong celebration of San Diego State University professors as “teacher scholars” kicked off Tuesday as President Thomas B. Day praised the faculty in his annual convocation address for its success in carrying out a difficult dual role.

Referring to the quickening national debate over the imbalance at many public universities between research and classroom teaching, Day said San Diego State can help lead the way to a more equal relationship.

“We are one of the very few large, urban, state universities that have consistently held true to the teacher scholar ideal,” Day told several hundred professors who gathered for the traditional opening ceremony. Classes begin Monday at San Diego State, California’s largest university with an expected total enrollment this fall of more than 35,400 full- and part-time students.

Day, a physicist who sits on the National Science Board, said members of Congress, state legislators and corporate leaders alike are pushing to bridge the gap between teaching and research at large educational institutions.

Start With Teaching

“Only very slowly are we getting across the message that universities like ours start from the position of embracing fine teaching, and, as a part of that commitment, we do peer-recognized scholarship and research,” Day said.

For years, Day has chafed at the widely held public image of state universities as throwbacks to old-time teaching colleges, in contrast to that of UC campuses which are charged under the California educational master plan with primary research and the training of college professors in doctoral programs.

The master plan calls for state universities to emphasize professional preparation of undergraduates, with faculty research being a lesser priority. Yet many critics, led by state schools Supt. Bill Honig, have questioned whether the research emphasis at UC campuses is justified when many professors teach as few as six hours a week, less than half that required at state universities.

Day said that San Diego State professors, buoyed by more than $40 million annually in government and private grants, have proven that good teaching and scholarly study can go together. The school is known nationally for its School of Public Health, its School of Accountancy, its ecology research group, its undergraduate program in gene-splicing technology, its Mt. Laguna observatory and its Japanese studies program.

Commitment Voiced

“We have ratified an irrevocable commitment to fine teaching as the sine qua non of a successful SDSU professor,” Day said, adding that the faculty has also shown “that there (are hundreds) who combine an ever-new and passionate interest in students with the zest for an active scholarship life.”

The president of the University Senate--the faculty governing body--told his colleagues that teacher scholars “are those of us who enjoy our disciplines enough to share them with students and respect them enough to participate in the research.”

“Unless we teach and teach well, we are only writers or scientists or consultants, not professors, and, if we grant tenure to such persons, we fail both the public and academic trust,” said E. N. Genovese, professor of classical and Oriental languages. “We are caught in the middle, we are pushed from both sides--that is our fate and the extraordinary nature of the mission we have adopted.”

The 2,300 faculty members also heard Albert Johnson, vice president for academic affairs, tell them that the university is in good shape overall. Johnson said budget cuts foreseen earlier in the year have proven unnecessary because the state ended up with more funds than forecast last winter.

Construction Plans

Many construction projects are planned or under way to add classrooms, model and upgrade science facilities and expand the library, Johnson said. The university, through its fund-raising foundation, has approved an agreement with a private developer to draw up detailed plans for a 10-year redevelopment effort on the campus’ southern perimeter.

Although enrollment has leveled off because of a shorter period of open enrollment, Johnson said the numbers are still too high for the university to offer all students the courses they want at the time they want.