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"More than twenty-five years of teaching at Parsons give me a unique perspective on the changing role of part-time
faculty at The New School. Several years into my early New School career the assistant chairman of the Foundation Department
announced to me that it was high time I served on the Parsons College Council given my enthusiastic and active participation
in the life of the Foundation department. My department like the others was made up of a vast majority of part-time and a
handful of full-time colleagues. I was eager to join the Council and was soon appointed to serve, along with a full-time
colleague, as co-chair of its Faculty Affairs Committee. Now, many years later, I am a first-term Parsons senator on the
New School Faculty Senate, a body comprised of 16 full-time and 10 part-time faculty members. Full-time and part-time members
serve on the Senate as equals. In fact, we have had a part-time Senate Co-Chair. My service in the Senate is important to
me because I care deeply about the New School and believe that with so many years of experience I can make a significant contribution.
I find it troubling and illogical, though, that while on the one hand I represent the entire Parsons faculty on the Senate,
I and my hundreds of part-time colleagues are prohibited from serving on the current Parsons Faculty Council (PFC) or, for
that matter, fully participating in other fundamental areas of academic life. This marginalization of such a large, vital,
and accomplished sector of the faculty is, to my mind, wasteful, unsustainable and a huge step backwards for the University."
- Barbara Siegel, Foundation Program, Parsons "Being
a faculty member does not just involve teaching our own courses, but being aware of where our offerings fit in the departmental
and university curriculum. Having a sense of how the texts and context we teach mesh with those emphasized by peers has a
tremendous multiplier effect on what we do, maximizing its input on the lives of our students and giving our intellectual
work a local habitation in the matrix of knowledge spreading through the larger institution. Only faculty members who participate
in planning and governance can be fully aware of what their colleagues teach and the general curricular arc of the university.
Participation in committee work, voting rights in faculty meetings, ability to direct independent studies on topics of expertise,
and representation in governing bodies are not just forms of recgonition for our work, but modes of reaping the greatest
benefit for all out off our presence in the university" - Nicholas Birns, Literary Studies,
Eugene Lang College "Curriculum development and course content are integral parts
of the teaching process-- it is essential that part-time faculty be invested in course content at all scales--in the day-to
day lesson plans, as well as the larger arcs determining the academic rigor, ethics and integrity of a program. As working
professionals in their field, as well as experts in pedagogy, the part-time faculty has the ability and need to contribute
in fundamental ways--this process should be contractually formalized and honored as integral. This essential inclusiveness
bears on the faculty's academic freedom understood in the largest sense, influences morale greatly, and will build the
best possible academic environment and programs." - Tom Butter, Fine Arts, Parsons
"As working professionals, part-time faculty bring the expertise and experience of real
life practice in their respective fields to their pedagogical practice, informing and enriching it. Their involvement and
commitment to these professional practices necessitates teaching on a part time basis. To maximize their contribution to the
pedagogical process, it is imperative that professionals with an active practice in their field be contractually included
in helping develop the curriculum at the New School." - David Mann, Fine Arts, Parsons
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