Merit Pay Gone Wrong

To the Editor:

I’ve been troubled lately by the actions of Fairfield’s administrators. As a senior, I’ve been able to reap the benefits of some fantastic professors, but with the decision to adopt merit pay, future students may not have those experiences. This university will use this policy, one based on publication in scholarly journals rather than ability to teach in a classroom, as the mark for receiving tenure.

I didn’t come here to take a class with TA’s so my professor could go write for academia. I want to be taught. I want to learn and be challenged and I want it during those 50 minutes I’m in class (I got out of bed for it, didn’t I?).

If students at Fairfield didn’t want an intimate classroom atmosphere, where they felt comfortable learning and discussing, they’d have gone to a bigger school.

This administration is trying to play a game that neither professors nor students want it to play. Good teachers who want to keep their jobs are going to spend less time on lesson plans; the ones who continue to worry about the needs of the students, rather than the university reputation, will be fired.

I don’t care if my professor has never published a letter in a school newspaper, if they can keep my interest and challenge me in discussion, then the money we pay to come here is well spent.

Sincerely,

Daniel Stalilonis, ’02