WATERLOO - Faculty members are questioning if Hawkeye Community College will have to scale back class offerings next fall in the face of 43 layoffs announced earlier this month.

Professor Karen Ernst suggested during a student-organized forum Tuesday that many of those instructors' classes would be taught by lower-paid adjuncts, who are given a more limited class load.

"Dozens of new teachers will need to be hired for fall 2009," she said. "As the department chair of mathematics, I can say with certainty that this will be a difficult, if not impossible, task."

President Greg Schmitz responded with certainty: "I can assure you, these classes will be offered."

Administrators will recommend the board of trustees lay off all 33 of the college's regular part-time instructors and eight full-time instructors. The full-time positions of another two retiring or resigning instructors will not be filled.

"We have a very real need to increase our revenues or reduce our expenses by $1.7 million," Schmitz told the audience of students and instructors. Three faculty representatives, Schmitz and two college vice presidents made up the panel.

"I'd like to emphasize that there are other options available than making such drastic cuts," said instructor Josh Pachter.

"It has been suggested that the faculty would be willing to take a pay cut on a very limited short-term basis," he said. "We hope that the administration will consider that." In addition, Pachter views promised federal stimulus dollars as a possible source "to put faculty back on the payroll by fall."

Schmitz expressed skepticism about those ideas, though. He noted the stimulus is designed to provide "one-time money," with ongoing cost savings still needed. "It does cause concern when we talk about 'short-term, temporary,'" he added, regarding faculty pay cuts. He expects it cold take the college as long as five years to recoup the state's expected cuts.

Schmitz suggested the possibility of a tuition increase much larger than the planned 4 percent as another option to close the budget gap. It would mean an additional 14 percent increase "if we were to balance the budget on the backs of students," he said.

The proposed faculty reductions will save $800,000 in the 2009-10 budget. If they are approved, the college will have 115 full-time instructors next fall. Other cuts to balance the budget include furloughs and pay freezes for college employees not represented by a bargaining group plus potentially privatizing custodial and maintenance services.

Students 'angry'

The cost-cutting plan has raised questions on campus, particularly regarding the faculty layoffs. Students interviewed earlier Tuesday in the Brock Student Center voiced some of the concerns.

"I know there's a lot of people that are kind of angry," said sophomore Chris Hoeg of Traer. "They came to a community college for smaller class sizes and they're laying off all of these teachers."

Freshmen Mindy Brace of Allison questioned how instructors were chosen to be laid off, noting that one of her teachers is among them. "I just don't know why they did it by seniority and not by the quality of the teacher," she said.

Linda Allen, vice president of academic affairs, said during the forum that administrators will be examining data to determine when small classes offering multiple sections can be combined.

"Currently, we operate in a 10-student minimum (class size)," added Ernst. "What we've been told is the new minimum will be 15 students."

Officials say the Hawkeye Professional Educators Association contract dictated who would be laid off, leaving little room to make a decision based on instructor quality. "We followed the master agreement, there was not a choice," said Schmitz.

"Our concern is that the full-time faculty members and the regular part-time faculty have gone through a really rigorous vetting process," said Pachter. He called adjuncts "less qualified, not unqualified," people whose more limited employment results in "less commitment to the college and its mission."

Allen noted, though, that adjunct experience can cover a wide range. She pledged that the college will maintain a ratio of 60 percent full-time to 40 percent part-time instructors.

Despite obvious disagreements, Pachter emphasized faculty and administrators are on the same side. He believes officials will maintain the faculty positions, if possible.

"I have full confidence that this is not an option that the administration wants to take."

Contact Andrew Wind at (319) 291-1507 or andrew.wind@wcfcourier.com.