Concerned Undergraduates of Stony Brook University

Shirley Strum Kenny to retire from her post as President of SBU in the Spring of 2009.

To:  President Shirley Strum Kenny

We the undersigned would like to echo the dismay and outrage expressed by the faculty over the chronic and damaging under-funding of the academic sector of the College of Arts and Sciences of Stony Brook University. The recent forced closure of a quarter of the College’s fall 2008 courses, though partially rescinded, marks an ominous turn in what has been a long-term pattern of negligence. Over the past ten years (1997-2007), the size of the undergraduate student body has grown by 26\%, and the College of Arts and Sciences has been pressed into service for expanding or newly-created undergraduate programs including Journalism, Business, and Marine Sciences. Two satellite campuses have been purchased and developed, and other major initiatives undertaken, all at enormous expense. Meanwhile, the College’s core missions of teaching and scholarship have been seriously eroded. Undergraduate students would like to call attention to the following concerns stemming from our unique position as both students and educators:

* A decrease in the number of teaching faculty, be it graduate students or professors, and a decrease in the number of tenured and tenure-track faculty, has led to fewer class choices for this coming Fall 2008 semester.

* This decrease in class choices has led to decreased undergraduates’ ability to fulfill one’s majors and/or minors.

* Increased funding to establish or build up newer programs, such as Journalism, Business, and Marine Sciences, by stepping up demands for distribution and other requirements, has further overburdened existing classes in the sciences, social sciences and humanities.

* The undergraduate body continues to grow, but only this past year have two new buildings for student housing been started.

* The larger classes of Stony Brook University are becoming even larger, making faculty to student ratios even more atrocious than they were before.

* No significant new academic buildings are being talked of or constructed.

* By spending so much on new undergraduate programs as well as other initiatives outside the College of Arts and Sciences and the main campus the current administration of Stony Brook has lost sight of what makes a university great: the student’s satisfaction and the professorial faculty’s wisdom.

For all these reasons, we demand an accounting of the priorities and decisions that have starved the College of Arts and Sciences of essential resources. We also wish to register our loss of confidence in the academic leadership of President Shirley Strum Kenny, whom we hold responsible for this egregious mismanagement. In closing, we, the undersigned ask President Kenny to open hear ears to the voices of those who dedicate their lives to teaching, learning and bettering this campus, rather than just her own inner circle.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Concerned Undergraduates of Stony Brook University Petition to President Shirley Strum Kenny was created by and written by Joshua Lee Hamer (joshualeehamer@gmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.