The Importance of the Part-Time Faculty
The Importance of the Part-Time Faculty
by
Bernice Frances Pierson
The lasting impact of Dean Price’s seven hand-picked faculty of 1946 has been sufficiently touted, but virtually nothing has been written about the immeasurable influence of the early part-time faculty. Not until 1959–1960 was a second full-time faculty member added to the department of biology, yet by employing part-time faculty we offered the full complement of courses taught in the first two years of most four-year colleges.
In 1946 we were fortunate to have as neighbors the world-renowned National Institutes of Health and the Navy Medical Center from which to recruit our part-time faculty. In 1947–1948 there were four part-time faculty members in the department of biology: Peter Boyle, B.S., was the laboratory assistant, and Ernest Jawetz, Ph.D., M.D., organized the course in bacteriology. Before going to California as chairman of the Department of Bacteriology, Stanford University Medical School, he laid the foundation for one of the strongest offerings in our science curriculum.
Dr. Ross MacCardle, NCI, NIH, and editor of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, taught in our department for over ten years. He was a distinguished teacher, who put the progress of each student above everything else. Using both hands he filled the blackboard with diagrams, labelling and lecturing as he went along. He brought to his classes reports of progress at the frontiers of scientific knowledge. He challenged each to excel—expecting A’s and B’s and nearly always getting them.
Dr. Herbert Seversmith, NIH Division of Grants, alternated with Dr. MacCardle in teaching vertebrate embryology and comparative anatomy. His contribution to the department was substantial. An
accomplished pianist, he also composed the music and words of our first college anthem, “Alma Mater, Hail to thee, Hail to thee, dear MJC.” However, in the days of the BCC portable buildings and at the Takoma Park Campus by the B&O, the students preferred for their school song, “Little Grass Shack by the Railroad Track.”
Often I walked a tightrope between my part-time instructors—we were all “instructors” then—and the administration.
Samples of notes often found on my desk:
Dear Professor,
I have been unable to find—
Soap
That green soap is not adequate for dogfish grease.
Colored Chalk
I couldn’t find any decent colored chalk in Bethesda. I bought two boxes yesterday but it is hard. Do you have any?
Garbage Can
The janitor told us he was not authorized to give us a garbage can. Those brown crocks are impossible! If Montgomery County can purchase the Dean a car, it ought to be able to provide us with a garbage can!
Blackboards
Is there anything that can be done with those awful green blackboards? I can’t even wash them. No sponges or cloths.
Ross MacCardle
Dear Dr. Pierson,
Some students in Dr. MacCardle’s class are complaining on their being held over 30-40 minutes.
W.H. Neal
Each semester the procedure for part-time employment depended upon enough students showing up to see if the professor was there and the professor waiting to see if enough students showed up to start teaching. “Enough” was set by the administration–usually the magic ten.
However, the rewards were the surprising number of successful students who were inspired by those first dedicated part-time teachers.
Bethesda, Takoma Park, and Rockville Campuses. Biology, 1946-1973; chairman, Biology Department, 1961-1971; Professor Emerita.