2008 Woodie Awards
Overcrowding plagues Cal State-Long Beach faculty
Chris Miranda
Issue date: 9/8/03 Section: News
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(U-WIRE) LONG BEACH, Calif. - Increased enrollment coupled with limited room for new buildings on the California State at Long Beach campus has created a significant office shortage for faculty in the school's College of Liberal Arts.
Two to three teachers are sharing offices designed for one, and four to five staff members now split rooms meant for two. College of Liberal Arts Dean Dee Abrahamse wrote in a June 24 memo that her goal is to provide a single office to all tenure and tenure track faculty, but said regretfully that the, "current allocation does not accommodate that need."
Professors and teaching assistants in the College of Liberal Arts represent approximately one-third of instructors at Cal State Long Beach, but the office space provided to them remains disproportionately small. The number of students and lecturers in the College is also growing more rapidly than that of any other college, exacerbating an already difficult situation.
"It's been a problem for a long time, and it's becoming a worse problem," says Paul Schmidt, Director of Facilities and Technology Planning.
The close quarters create clutter in the form of stacks of papers and files, and often force teachers to split time on a single computer, and sometimes even a single desk.
"It's hard when there are two of us. You're just on top of each other," says Greg Beirich, a history professor.
Instructors sometimes elect to avoid the aggravation of being crammed in together by dividing their office hours. But that solution in turn creates scheduling troubles for students desiring personal meetings.
"It's frustrating for the students because they don't understand why we're not here all the time," says Rebecca Thomas, an American history professor. "The rotating schedule makes it hard for them."
While all College of Liberal Arts lecturers teach in the school's five Liberal Arts buildings, their offices are spread everywhere across campus. As a result, some professors not only face long walks, but also crowded working areas.
Two to three teachers are sharing offices designed for one, and four to five staff members now split rooms meant for two. College of Liberal Arts Dean Dee Abrahamse wrote in a June 24 memo that her goal is to provide a single office to all tenure and tenure track faculty, but said regretfully that the, "current allocation does not accommodate that need."
Professors and teaching assistants in the College of Liberal Arts represent approximately one-third of instructors at Cal State Long Beach, but the office space provided to them remains disproportionately small. The number of students and lecturers in the College is also growing more rapidly than that of any other college, exacerbating an already difficult situation.
"It's been a problem for a long time, and it's becoming a worse problem," says Paul Schmidt, Director of Facilities and Technology Planning.
The close quarters create clutter in the form of stacks of papers and files, and often force teachers to split time on a single computer, and sometimes even a single desk.
"It's hard when there are two of us. You're just on top of each other," says Greg Beirich, a history professor.
Instructors sometimes elect to avoid the aggravation of being crammed in together by dividing their office hours. But that solution in turn creates scheduling troubles for students desiring personal meetings.
"It's frustrating for the students because they don't understand why we're not here all the time," says Rebecca Thomas, an American history professor. "The rotating schedule makes it hard for them."
While all College of Liberal Arts lecturers teach in the school's five Liberal Arts buildings, their offices are spread everywhere across campus. As a result, some professors not only face long walks, but also crowded working areas.