To teach or not to teach ““ for Brian Copenhaver, that was
the question.
Copenhaver made the decision last Friday to return to teaching
after his second term as provost of the College of Letters &
Science ends.
The debate over whether to spend more time interacting with
students or trying to improve education via policy change and
overseeing departments is something provosts, deans, and even
chancellors battle with often.
Chancellor Albert Carnesale, when asked what he thought of
Copenhaver’s decision, said, “He is not leaving the
university, his decision is to return to what we all go into
academia for, (teaching).”
Two UCLA administrators struggle to keep teaching and research a
part of their new lives as administrators.
Judy Smith will not be teaching this year for the first time in
her six years as vice provost for undergraduate education in the
College because of other priorities in her life.
In previous years, Smith taught a general undergraduate anatomy
course to about 300 students because she felt it was important to
continue working with students first-hand.
But working forty to sixty hours a week as vice provost hardly
left time for her to teach ““ all the preparation for her
class would have to be done on weekends, she said.
Smith said she misses the interaction with students, their
eagerness to learn, and the excitement of teaching the most.
“In Murphy Hall, you’re kind of removed from
that,” Smith said.
But ever since Smith became vice provost in 1996, she has not
looked back.
A full faculty member since 1970, Smith said she made a
conscious decision to make a change and challenge herself.
Smith said her case is different from Copenhaver’s since
he has been in administration for as long as she has been teaching,
whereas Smith has just begun her administrative career.
For faculty members who have taken administrative positions,
teaching can be refreshing and rewarding, Smith said.
She also said she thought the Chancellor and provosts immensely
enjoyed their Sept. 11 seminars and getting the benefit of
interacting with students.
Carnesale said in a statement Wednesday, “I have always
enjoyed being engaged with students in the classroom, in large part
because I learn so much from them.”
Tony Chan, who has taught at UCLA since 1986 and recently became
the dean for physical sciences in the College, is not teaching any
undergraduate classes during his first year as dean.
Chan is working one-on-one with post doctorate students, and
running seminars in smaller groups, but still said, “in a way
I do miss teaching.”
Chan also said he is a realist, and knows his job as dean is all
consuming, especially since he is so new.
For Chan, it is all a matter of what he is willing to give
up.
“You can always find time, but it is a trade-off,”
he said.
For now, he doesn’t want to give up his research career,
but said he can’t do as much research, take on as many post
doctorate research students or go to as many conventions as he used
to while he adjusts to his new position.
As far as returning to teaching, Chan said it is too early to
tell, but he “wants to be in a position to return to being a
professor at any time.”
Chan doesn’t want to dedicate 100 percent of his attention
to being an administrator because he said he needs to be aware of
what is going on in research, even though a lot of what he does as
dean is already part of improving undergraduate teaching programs
and research.
When he compared the two jobs, Chan said, “as a professor
you work for yourself, and are like a small entrepreneur, but as an
administrator it’s like you are working for the government or
a large corporation.”
Chan said the two jobs are very different.
The deans for the four academic divisions ““ humanities,
life sciences, physical sciences and social sciences ““ are
mainly responsible for recruiting top faculty, mediating between
upper administration and faculty, meeting with faculty every day,
and working with department chairs.
A big challenge is competing with other comparable universities
and trying to sell UCLA to recruits.
“We represent UCLA to the outside world,” Chan
said.
Even with all these new responsibilities, Chan said that he is
“determined to maintain (his) research.”