Is this house a home? Many students ask themselves this very question about SMU. Some answer positively and others answer negatively. Yet, they are not the only ones who query themselves: The faculty and staff here must also ponder this question prior to coming here and also while they are here.
For those professors who have tenure, this question is answered rather quickly and quite confidently, seeing as how their time and pay is secured. These professors do not have to struggle to prove themselves every year as competent and effective instructors. We are not saying that tenured professors are not effective because many of them are. However, for those teachers who do not have this security, SMU can be a harsh and oftentimes disheartening place. Of the population of teachers at SMU, the tenured teachers are in the minority, while the majority of the teacher population is non-tenured.
The staff at SMU is also an entity which is heavily under-appreciated. The average staff salary is nothing to brag about and as a result there has been a lot of turnover running rampant throughout the staff employment. One area of campus which has felt the inhospitality of SMU is the Student Activities Center. It has transitioned six different staff advisors in the last three years and there are only six advisors which comprise the SAC. With those kinds of odds it is only fair to assume that another one to two advisors will leave within the next year or so. Unfortunately, we as students feel the trickle-down effect of the unhappiness of the faculty and staff who are struggling to find a home in SMU. There may also be a correlation between enrollments of minorities and the presence or lack of presence of an advisor in that area.
Highland Park High School, as a way of ensuring that its teachers are content, offers faculty daily massages and car washes for a small fee. Although there is a fee for these services, the fact is that the school is going out of their way to appease the teachers and to make Highland Park a home for them. This in turn tremendously aids in recruiting top-notch teachers to the school as well as strengthening the well-being of the teachers which in turn promotes an enhanced academic environment. Maybe this university should take a hint from them.
It is very important that all professors feel that SMU is a home. This promotes the general community at SMU. The academic enhancement of the atmosphere at SMU can only be ameliorated by the contentment of all faculty and staff. It is utterly impossible to please all people and keep them pleased at all times but like the theory of utilitarianism says, we must strive to create the greatest good for the greatest number and keep in mind that everyone’s happiness counts equally. That said, it should be a goal of SMU to ensure that all professors (tenured and non-tenured) and staff members are content with their situations, because their contentment weighs just as much as any tenured professor.
We are all in this together, so let’s make a happy home. Southern hospitality, you know!
