Reed is a Spanish language professor and will be teaching sections of Spanish this fall. "We were able, because of strong enrollments, to add to a couple sections of our language courses," said Dean of the Faculty Greg Call. "We were delighted she was here to help us."
Weathersby teaches both music and African American studies. He is also a composer and concert organist. He will be hosted by the music department and looks forward to participating in classes but will not be teaching this semester. Sebastian, who focuses on medieval literature and old English literature as well as medieval music, will be looking forward to a semester of research. "He is not looking to teach this semester so he can focus on his writing," said Call.
The College decided to invite faculty members soon after the hurricane struck, according to Call. "We were working on some specific ideas to try to make some coordinated efforts," he said. However, announcing the decision was delayed due to difficulty reaching faculty members from affected areas. "Sometimes communication was impossible for a time," said Call. "So we delayed making any real announcement of what we were doing until we had reached some of these professors and had assurance that they professors and had assurance that they would welcome our help."
Call said that the main focus of the College was to determine how best to help those in need. "We just talked in terms of what was important for us to do, what we felt was right to do and how we could make an effort that would really reach out to some of the people affected," he said.
When President Anthony Marx and Call felt that the College had a basic plan for inviting faculty from Gulf Coast institutions to the College, Call then wrote to faculty on Sept. 2, asking them if they knew colleagues from affected areas. "The thinking there is that in terms of inviting someone new to a community it's always nicer if they have a connection from where they're coming," said Call. "We basically tried to follow through the leads we had from individual connections."
According to Marx, the College is now looking to invite faculty members from Xavier University as well. "We're hopeful of being able to invite ... faculty from Xavier University because we were fortunate enough to welcome seven students from Xavier and four from Tulane," said Call.
Since the fall semester course curriculum was already set, the College added sections to existing classes instead of adding new courses. For Reed, who will teach sections of Spanish, this was an advantage. "What made this doable from her point of view and ours was that because we had those courses set, it was just adding a section to an existing course-the syllabus and everything was set in place … and there was strong enrollment that allowed us to do that," said Call. Weathersby, who arrived later than Reed, will be involved in existing courses through speaking to classes and also perhaps by giving a lecture.
Call said that the College is greatly benefiting from hosting visiting faculty. "I think we're very fortunate in terms of the three professors we have. … They all bring to us fine records of scholarship and teaching and varied interests," he said. "It's a bonus to receive so much in return when you make an offer to help."
Because when Gulf Coast institutions will reopen is unknown, administrators, along with Reed, Weathersby and Sebastian, will remain open to future possibilities. "I think we are playing it by ear because we want to be as supportive of [our faculty] as we could be. It's not yet known when they will be able to and wish to return home so we are taking that flexible approach and being open to discussing possibilities for the semester," said Call.
In the meantime, Marx explained that the College has been accommodating professors' families as well. Reed's husband, a professor at Tulane, is also in the area and will conduct research with colleagues at UMass. Reed also has a son who is currently a visiting sophomore at the College along with a son who is a high school senior. "We're pleased to have the whole family here," said Call.
Call feels that the visiting professors will add much to the campus. "It's a pleasure to welcome these new colleagues to our community, and we're pleased to be able to help and aware that they will be able to bring much to us as well." Marx agrees that the College will gain much from the ideas and experience of visiting faculty.