Illaria Dana

Education

Last week the Beacon hit the streets, well actually the Oceanview Dinning Hall and Campus Center on a very quite Friday afternoon, to ask students if they were aware of the layoffs taking place at SMCC.

Economic woes have moved from the horizon to cast a heavily tinted shadow cast by an ominous cloud over SMCC this semester and as a result departmental suspensions and faculty cuts have been made. The Beacon is planning on covering this in the next paper, but for now we asked a random selection of students: Are you aware of the faculty layoffs at SMCC?

James Collier from Chicago, Illinois, said, “I did not know about the faculty layoffs. I have a feeling they should not hire more people, because I’m sure that facilities could use more help than they receive. Some faculty may be laid off, but I cannot judge whether or not they should be. There are some great teachers here, but there are some that are not so great. The fewer teachers we have, the smaller our programs will become.

“As far as I know, there’s only one teacher to teach oceanography. This can delay students’ graduation if they do not get into the course when it is offered.”

Alex Serrano from South Berwick, said, “I was not aware of the faculty layoffs. If they were laying off people to higher more diverse or educated faculty that would be okay. Since I don’t know the plan, I can’t say.”

Felicia Davis from Derry, New Hampshire, “No. It’s such a great school, I figured that, ‘Why would you have to lay someone off?’”

Sal Stutes from Buxton, Maine, “ I have no idea about the layoffs. All the teachers seem really cool.”

Justin Cochran from Bowdoin, Maine, “I was slightly aware of them, because I know that the college is facing a budget crisis. I was not aware that the cuts would affect teachers. I worry about the adjunct professors, because I would assume they were first to go. I have had adjunct professors who have not only been incredible teachers but have been advocates for things that I was involved in on Campus.”