College Teacher Volunteers

It was with great interest that I read your article. In this era of budget cuts there should be no stone left unturned in our quest for maximizing services while reducing costs. Why not use graduate students and business people with “no prior experience”?

Apparently, at certain CSU campuses it is enthusiasm, not experience, that counts. At Cal State Long Beach a volunteer graduate student’s inexperience showed at the beginning of the term, but reportedly by its end she had gained confidence and the quality of her lectures had grown steadily.

How many of us would put up with graduate students as volunteers if we had a toothache, needed our tax forms prepared, or required the services of a proctologist?

Sadly, it appears some campuses in the CSU system are choosing to balance budgets at the expense of quality teaching. They are attempting to meet students’ demand for classes by replacing professional faculty with amateurs. The CSU has a distinguished tradition of providing high-quality education and its primary role has always been teaching. The system has been a leader in pioneering initiatives in the teaching and learning process, but this move is ill-conceived and unfortunate.

KENT SCHOFIELD

Professor of History

Cal State San Bernardino