Last semester a professor from Italy was able to replace one of the professors on leave, but that option isnt always available.

A high number of sabbatical and faculty leaves in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Economics Department left half of 300- to 600-level classes taught by graduate students.

According to the professor Sunwoong Kim, department chair, this semester eight out of 20 faculty members were missing, which left many gaps that were filled with graduate students. Four members are on leave, three are on sabbatical and one recently resigned.

Next semester, however, seven faculty members will be returning along, and one new professor will join the department. Only one faculty member will be gone on sabbatical.

Kim said since economics has a doctoral program, those classes receive first priority when determining professors teaching assignments. Last semester a professor from Italy was able to replace one of the professors on leave, but that option isnt always available, Kim said.

Sometime we arent able to hire them because it takes time, Kim said referring to the hiring and interviewing process for perspective replacements.

Other departments commonly hire lecturers or adjunct professors, but that isnt the case in the economics department. Dean of the College of Letters and Science, Richard Meadows, who has a doctorate in economics, said the department has to use graduate students because lecturers arent available.

Meadows also said that one of the reasons economics is so heavy on graduate student teachers in 300-level classes is because of their low number of 200-level classes, an external review recently revealed.

But he stressed that those graduate students who teach 300-level classes must either have their masters degree or the equivalent.

Sandra Gregoire, a nontraditional student, returned to UWM to obtain her minor in economics to aid her in one day teaching high school social studies. But through her classes, which she has taken mostly on nights and weekends, she has never had an actual professor. Gregoire has no complaints about any of her teachers, but she said, It would be nice to have more classes taught by professors.

While Kim admits that the situation is not ideal, he said it is a good experience for graduate students and better than the alternative of having larger class sizes.

Graduate student Josh Shindell enjoys the opportunity to teach intermediate microeconomics, an upper-level class.

Its nice in a sense because it is more fun to teach upper-level classes, Shindell said.

Another advantage of graduate students teaching classes is the financial opportunity for both the university and the students. The department saves a great deal of money by not hiring an additional interim faculty member and graduate students have the opportunity to make more money for school, Kim said.

Shindell has a 42 percent teaching appointment, meaning that he teaches one full class and two grading or discussion sections. His teaching level covers tuition plus $1,000 a month.

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