News > February 21, 2008

By Caitlin Brooks | Staff writer

Questions abounded at an emergency meeting of faculty members held by the university’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) held on Feb. 18. They met to discuss recently announced campus initiatives that would affect faculty living arrangements. The initiative under debate calls for the conversion of faculty apartments to student apartments.

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The university recently stated that the current faculty apartments are going to be converted into student apartments, causing an uproar among professors. (Brice Stallings)

Construction on some of the units is slated to begin soon after Commencement on May 26.

“Where am I going to go?” asked a professor from a plushy couch under the open window.

She is a visiting professor and under the terms of the letter, she and her daughter will have to vacate her apartment a week before the end of her daughter’s school year. It is not a unique story.

“I have to do research at all hours of the night; that means I must walk back and forth from my home in the dark. My husband will be back in China,” another professor said.

“How will I do my research? How will I work if I cannot live on campus?”

A voice chimed into the colloquy from behind the rest. “I feel that I have been lied to. I have not been respected as a professional. I’ve been going over the whole situation in my head; who do I blame for all the lies?”

The news broke for the first time to faculty apartment residents through a letter dated Feb. 11.

In the notice, Vice President of Student Life Kenneth Zick detailed the rationale behind the hotly contested decision.

The basis of the decision stems from an item in the strategic plan and the need for increased student housing on campus.

“Campus housing is at capacity, leaving the university with no options when, for various reasons, more students want to live on campus ... Second, a recent study by the Arts and Sciences research group indicated that our aging residence halls need significant improvements and renovations. If we are to make these changes, we must have alternate on-campus student housing while construction is underway. Finally, if at any time in the future the trustees approve an enrollment increase – even a very small one – we must be prepared to accommodate it,” the letter reads.

The Faculty Apartments comprises ten buildings with a total of 72 apartments.

The current verbal agreement allows faculty and staff members and their families to live in the apartments for a maximum of six years.

A request was made for all residents of these buildings to vacate the premises by May 25.

Some of the residents have lived in their apartments for three or more years. For them, Faculty Apartments is home.

“We moved here for long-term stability. It was part of the reason we came to Wake Forest. Being able to live in Faculty Apartments, so close to campus made the move seamless and affordable. What will happen when that option is no longer available to incoming faculty?” one resident said at the AAUP meeting. On Feb. 14, residents of the apartments and administration members met to discuss the announcement.

A one-time stipend of $500 was offered to each faculty member to allay moving costs.

Additionally, the administration promised in the letter to work with faculty to ensure that they could find new housing that is “as convenient as possible.”

A new letter, dated Feb. 18 revised these promises and requirements.

“The original plan was to have everyone move out May 25, we were able to get the deadline pushed back for seven of the ten apartments,” Associate Provost Rick Matthews said.

“At the first meeting (Feb. 14) the residents were making the point that May 25 is right at the end of the semester. They made excellent points.”

For this reason, residents of apartments 1-5 and 9-10 will have until June 30.

The inhabitants of apartments six, seven and eight will still need to leave by May 25 but will be compensated an additional $2500 payable directly from the university to a professional moving company of the university’s choice to assist in packing and moving expenses according to the second letter.

“The biggest loss (for the university and professors) is for visiting scholars, people that will be here for just a short space of time and international faculty that may not have drivers licenses,” Matthews said.

The administration is trying to find some option to replace the role of faculty apartments in this capacity.

Vague plans concerning a house on Polo Road with mini-apartments are in the works, according to Matthews.Though the increased stipend may be consolation to some, others express contrary views.

“I really don’t want their money, I just want their respect,” a faculty member who wished to remain nameless stated at the AAUP meeting.

“There was a complete lack of professional respect, this came out of nowhere.”

“The faculty really want to cooperate with the new administration. We were really looking forward to a bright future together, but this treatment really breaks the trust,” Gale Sigal, university chapter president of the AAUP, said.

“Such disrespect of professors as professionals makes people wonder about the priorities of the administration. Where do faculty members fall? We were hoping to start on a good footing but this does not bode well for the future.”

The AAUP is working on several proposed solutions to the issue, according to Sigal.

“We are asking that administration extend the deadline by one year, though by a minimum of six months would be acceptable,” Sigal said.

“An alternative would be full compensation of all moving expenses for faculty. Additionally, we are pushing for an immediate return of resident security deposits. The original plan was to wait to return the deposits until a month after residents vacate the apartments,” Sigal said. Many students mirror the sentiments of the AAUP union members.

“I think it’s difficult for our university to maintain a pro humanitate motto when they kick their own employees out of their housing with three months notice,” junior Andy Karr said.

“If this is the way administration is going to behave, perhaps we should change the motto.”

“The faculty members are just as much a part of the community as the students,” senior Kelly Chauvin said.

“Our professors do not need the added stress of finding living arrangements on top of their responsibilities, especially at the end of term,” Sigal said.

She also said that that sort of behavior towards students would not be tolerated and that if this kind of action were taken against them there would be protests and outrage.

“I think something the university should really consider is the message this is sending. By eliminating Faculty Apartments, Wake Forest is removing a cohesive community for the faculty and dismantling a tradition. Community and tradition are two things Wake claims to value. What do their actions say?”