Oliveros-Larsen expressed concern over the present number of tenured faculty. "For me, the first problem is the number of faculty," said Oliveros-Larsen. "The faculty is not big enough for the students we have. I think it's something we need to do a lot on."
Vice President-elect Amy Summerville '02 said that courses, independent projects and senior theses are quickly overwhelming various departments. "We are demanding more of the faculty than they are able to give," she said.
Summerville favored hiring professors who bring new points of view to the campus. "Any time you can represent a breadth of opinion, that is a good thing. Looking for new perspectives is something valuable," she said.
Oliveros-Larsen said that the SGO might also look into the current sabbatical policy. "We end up with huge outfluxes of professors in random years, and if you want to do a thesis or take courses from your favorite professors, you're in a jam," she said.
"When you don't have enough tenured faculty, having professors gone means that certain departments are really hit hard," Summerville added.
On Feb. 12, the student senate unanimously passed a resolution advocating additional tenure-track faculty positions.
Some faculty members, including Assistant Professor of Psychology Catherine Sanderson agree that more tenured faculty are needed. "As one who has had to turn away students from virtually every class I've taught here for the last three years; I absolutely agree with the students that it is a huge problem," she said.