Ph.D Rule May Cost Teachers Jobs at CSUF

In a move that could force out several teachers in Cal State Fullerton’s Department of Communications, a campus official has recommended the replacement of all full-time instructors who do not have Ph.Ds.

The action has pitted the administration against five full-time teachers, one of whom has taught at the university for 14 years, and has sparked debate over the classroom value of a doctorate versus experience in the industry.

The university’s Department of Communications has been hit hardest by the recommendation because it has relied more heavily than other departments on teachers who don’t have doctorates.

“Before last year, nobody ever said anything to me about having a Ph.D,” said Jay Berman, adviser to the student newspaper, the Daily Titan. “I think the Ph.D is irrelevant because having a Ph.D is something esoteric and doesn’t help you when you’re trying to get the paper out every day.”

Berman, 48, who worked at the Daily Breeze in Torrance for eight years and has taught at CSUF for seven, has a master’s degree in journalism.

“Our department is able to turn out people who are competitive in the job market, and I think that is our primary responsibility,” Berman said. “It seems unfortunate that people outside the department want to change that around.”

‘Not Running a Newspaper’

But Jack Coleman, vice president for academic affairs, who made the recommendation, said the university’s policy has always been to hire “fully academically qualified” faculty--those with Ph.Ds--who also have professional experience.

“We’re an academic institution, we’re not running a newspaper or TV station,” Coleman said. “We try to teach concepts, principles and philosophies, not ‘how to do it.’ Incidentally, if we get some good ‘how to do it’ with it, I don’t object to that. But I’m much more interested that we meet academic standards.”

Anthony Moye, a deputy vice chancellor, said hiring practices vary among the California State University’s 19 campuses and even among departments on the same campus. However, most other departments at Cal State Fullerton require doctorates. “There is a lot of discretion,” Moye said. But, he said, “I have never heard anyone say, ‘Just go and get more Ph.Ds.’ It’s never that simple.”

Coleman’s recommendation follows similar efforts by most of the University of California and CSU campuses with journalism departments. Exceptions are the graduate school of journalism at UC Berkeley, where three of the 12 full-time teachers have Ph.Ds, and USC, where five of the 17 journalism professors have them.

Bryce Nelson, director of the USC School of Journalism, said: “If all journalism professors had to have Ph.Ds, it would disqualify many of the best journalism teachers in America. I think it is a short-sighted policy to look only for the credential and not the experience of the person. You are not going to find first-rate journalists with Ph.Ds. If a person has good enough professional experience, then they don’t need a Ph.D.”

Cal State Fullerton’s communications department, with 30 teachers, offers majors in radio-TV-film, advertising, news, public relations and photo communications.

A National Search

Four of the five teachers who do not hold doctorates are expected to be offered one-year contracts for the 1988-’89 academic year while the department searches nationallly to fill their posts. The fifth has accepted a job at another state university.

“I think I’ve got a really good background in photojournalism. Now I hear all they want is Ph.Ds,” said Patrick O’Donnell, who has taught photography at CSUF for five years and is president of the California Press Photographers Assn. “They couldn’t find a Ph.D with 20 years of photojournalism experience.”