In an interview Friday with The Daily, Weinberg Dean Eric Sundquist addressed students’ recent criticisms of the Hispanic studies department, saying that the department is trying to improve and that students don’t see the whole picture of the faculty-hiring process.
“The university hires professors for a variety of reasons: research skills, research potential, professional recognition,” Sundquist said. “Only the (search) committee, which is conversant with all the candidates for a position, is able to see how things play off one another. An enthusiastic following for one candidate does not mean the totality of the picture assembled by another candidate isn’t a stronger one.”
About 20 students said last week they would start a letter-writing campaign to protest the departure of popular literature Prof. Christopher Larkosh, whose two-year appointment as a visiting assistant professor won’t be renewed. Students also are demanding better services from the department: improved advising, more 300-level classes and different requirements for study abroad credit.
Although administrators will not discuss which candidates are being considered for positions and which candidates have received offers, the department is looking to hire two tenure-track professors and could hire a third soon, Sundquist said.
But some students question the need for a search when the department already has a professor as well-liked as Larkosh.
“Without a doubt, (Larkosh) should have had an inside track,” said Nick Albers, a Hispanic studies major and Weinberg sophomore. “He truly enjoys what he’s teaching and he’s obviously very knowledgeable.”
The Hispanic studies department understaffed for several years has suffered from classroom overcrowding, an inability to meet demand for its classes, and a lack of continuity and unity among the faculty, Sundquist said.
“I can understand (students’) worries, especially if the department is perceived to have some teaching problems,” Sundquist said. “No one wants that to happen. You want the best of everything an excellent researcher, excellent teacher in the sense that down the line students will say they learned a lot and the person is well-liked.”
While some administrators have said students rarely have input during faculty searches, Sundquist said some departments emphasize students’ opinions more than others.
“It depends on how active an undergraduate club might be within the department,” Sundquist said. “It’s certainly important to hear from students in support of a candidate, just as it is during the tenure process.”
Prof. Lucille Kerr, chairwoman of the Hispanic studies department, said that when several candidates gave speeches for the position in January and February, students didn’t attend. But students said the lectures were poorly publicized even though administrators said they posted fliers and sent students an e-mail message.
“I would have considered going, especially knowing where the (Hispanic studies) department has been heading lately,” said Joel Alpern, a Weinberg senior and Hispanic studies minor.
Sundquist also responded to some students’ suggestions that the department isn’t renewing Larkosh’s contract because Larkosh is gay.
“I don’t know if there’s any truth to those allegations,” Sundquist said. “It’s easy for anybody, when they’re angry about a situation and they don’t feel like they have all the access to information, to speculate, even if they don’t have a solid foundation for all those reasons.”
In an e-mail to The Daily, Kerr said: “Christopher Larkosh’s sexual orientation did not play a role in the consideration of his position.”
And Larkosh himself downplayed the suggestion last week.
“I don’t make it an issue with my students,” said Larkosh, who has done considerable research on homosexuality in Brazilian and Argentinian literature. “I would like to believe that would not come into this issue.”