English and language departments at UW-Madison will hire fewer faculty members this year reflecting a growing national trend at public universities.
According to a December report issued by the Modern Language Association, job listings for both English and foreign languages dropped approximately 20 percent in October 2002 from October 2001.
The decline, which is disproportionately higher at public universities than private ones, directly correlates with state budgets, the report said. This past year, Wisconsin faced a $1.1 billion deficit and a $44 million budget cut to the UW System.
\The situation is very grim,"" said UW-Madison English Department Chair Susan Friedman.
While the English department hired three new faculty members this fall, it is not searching for any new faculty for the 2003-'04 school-year, despite some professors leaving or retiring, Friedman said.
UW-Madison English professor Heather Dubrow, who does job placement for the department and represented Friedman at the meeting where the MLA presented its figures, said the job market in the fields with fewer job openings has been down for about 30 years.
""There are more people being trained with Ph.D.s than there are jobs,"" she said.
That is one reason why the UW-Madison English department is admitting fewer students into its graduate program--a move Dubrow said at last month's meeting many department chairs said they had also begun at their respective universities.
Dubrow also pointed to universities hiring more adjunct positions, or people who are not on regular full-term contracts, which is significantly less expensive for schools. While UW-Madison has very few adjunct positions, according to Dubrow, the nationwide trend is much higher.
""Roughly 40 percent of people teaching in English and foreign language are adjunct,"" she said, meaning fewer job listings for full-time faculty positions.
Another reason for the tough job market could be a consequence of Sept. 11, Dubrow said, and a downturn in the economy.
So far, the UW-Madison College of Letters and Science, which encompasses the literature and language departments, is searching for less than half the number of faculty for next year as it did one year ago.
According to L&S Dean Phil Certain, the college recruited 50 people last year. Now, due to a $1.4 million budget cut this fiscal year, which ends June 30, the college will only be able to recruit 22 faculty members for the fall, with only two of those in language and literature departments. But Certain said L&S is not an exception.
""Faculty recruiting is down in all [UW-Madison] colleges,"" he said.
In L&S, however, hiring 28 fewer faculty members this year, who would each teach approximately four courses per year, means 112 fewer courses next year, or about 3,400 fewer class seats, according to Certain.
Since the English department hired new faculty members this year, Certain is giving priority to departments that more desperately need to fill positions, such as history, French, Italian, math and chemistry.
In the English department, which will be unable to recruit, Friedman said students could begin to feel the effects in the fall, depending on the next budget Gov. Jim Doyle will release in the near future and specifically how cuts are distributed among UW institutions. The department is preparing for a 3 percent cut, but Friedman said a 2 percent greater cut could have a more profound effect.
In the meantime, the department will give precedence to seniors majoring in English and to freshmen, yet Friedman insists it will do its best to still accommodate everyone in the middle.
But the English department is only one part of the university keeping a watchful eye on Doyle's fiscal recommendations to the Senate and Assembly.
""If Feb. 15 we learn our budget [has been cut further] we many have to terminate some searches,"" Certain said.
