Sophie De Rouin / Staff Writer

Following the confirmation that Theater Professor Harold Hynick is leaving MVC, more professors have confirmed they have not received a contract renewal for the upcoming Fall semester.  

Missouri Valley College is undergoing big changes in its faculty since Dr. Joe Parisi took over the presidency in the Fall of 2023. Professors at MVC live by a year-to-year contract, meaning they get a contract renewal each year to continue working at MoVal.

This year, eight full-time faculty members did not receive a contract renewal, which means they will be taking their leave at the end of term. This would appear to be the largest number of non-renewals at Missouri Valley College in a single year since the administration of Chadwick B. Freeman, who was president before Dr. Bonnie Humphrey. 

These professors had not been given any prior notice before being invited to a virtual meeting where they were informed about their non-renewal status. These Zoom meetings happened over the months of January up until March, leaving professors unsure during that time of who might be asked to leave Missouri Valley next. 

There has not been an official announcement of the staffing changes from the administration. Professors in the School of Arts and Humanities received an email about the upcoming cuts, from Dr. Kelley D. McKay Fuemmeler, Dean of the school. The email explained that the administration had “determined that resources need to be reallocated in order to prioritize programs with the greatest demonstrated demand in higher education’s current environment.” The email went on to inform the staff that four positions were being cut from Arts and Humanities, but did not name the professors specifically.

Dr. Thomas Rowland, Assistant Professor of English, was among those not given a contract for the coming year. He said he felt unsettled when talking about the current situation. 

“The tension between the faculty and the administration has been particularly fraught,” Rowland said. “Other professors are now concerned for their own future at this school.”

Some of the professors who will be leaving by the end of term spoke out about the lack of communication from the administration. The reason they were given for the contract non-renewals was that a certain data showed that their departments weren’t high enough in demand which resulted in Parisi wanting to reallocate resources. When they asked to be shown this certain data, they were not provided with any response. 

Parisi as well as Dr. Joe Alsobrooke, interim Vice President of Academic Affairs, both declined to be interviewed for this article. In an email canceling a previously scheduled interview, Parisi said the administration has worked hard to be communicative, inclusive and as open as possible during this process but are not at liberty to discuss HR-related issues in order to protect the privacy of their employees. 

Parisi did attend the meeting of Faculty Senate on March 18 to answer faculty questions. At that time he said he wants Missouri Valley College to have a performance-based culture. Austin Setter, Assistant Professor of History and Education, took exception to this. 

“Despite the phenomenal student and faculty evaluation I had in the last semester, the alleged data showed that it didn’t matter how good those results were,” he said. “It was a quick, out-of-nowhere process.” 

The School Arts and Humanities lost three full-time English faculty members due to the cut, leaving students with unanswered questions about if there are enough professors to cover the courses of those who are leaving. 

Students have expressed concern and uncertainty caused by the leave of these professors, including Sophomore McKenna Christensen who is in her second year of nursing school. 

“I think the communication to the students was handled very poorly,” she said. “We would like to know what is going on.”