At a recent meeting of the College Faculty Council, a decision was made not to continue the contract of professor of Sociology Antoinette Charfauros McDaniel, which will end on June 30, 2002. It was made on the grounds that she had not completed her Ph.D. dissertation by the agreed upon date of Sept. 1.
Students on campus and professors from other colleges have both organized in support of Charfauros, emphasizing her work in both service and teaching.

According to President Nancy Dye, who sits on the CFC, finishing a dissertation is an ironclad requirement. The College generally gives new faculty members one year to finish their dissertations. [“The decision] is not because people think ill of her at all,” Dye said.
A petition in support of Charfauros is circulating among faculty from academic institutions around the country. It states that her dissertation was complete and handed in on Nov. 19.

“Because I believe in Ms. Charfauros’ work, I have offered to work with her to turn her dissertation into a publishable book manuscript,” professor and chair of the Department of Ethnic Studies at University of California at San Diego Yen Le Espiritu wrote in a letter, addressed to a mediation team.
According to the letter, Charfauros’s dissertation asks why and how the field of ethnic studies, with its radical origins in the 1960’s, came to be associated with academic professionalization by the 1980’s.

In addition to support from colleagues in her field, students have also mobilized to ask the College to reconsider their decision. “It would be the School’s loss if she were to stop teaching here because of a mere technicality. Oberlin needs more people like Ms. Charfauros,” senior Elizabeth Weinstein wrote in a letter to President Dye.

From the College administration’s perspective, the decision stems from something more absolute: institutional policy. “Whenever someone is hired at Oberlin without a Ph.D completed, they have until Dec. of their second year to finish their dissertation. In her case, that was December 1, 2000. Last year, the council agreed to extend that deadline to Sept. 1, 2000. And if you have not finished your dissertation by that time, then your appointment comes to an end at the end of that academic
year,” Dean of the College Clayton Koppes said.
Dye said that Oberlin was not unusual in its insistence on faculty having completed dissertations. “In this, Oberlin is no different than any college or university I know,” she said.

Koppes also stressed the importance of a Ph.D. “In the College of the Arts and Sciences, a Ph.D. is an absolutely essential requirement in an academic field. The only exception would be in an area such as theater or studio art. And every academic institution of any quality insists on a faculty with completed Ph.Ds. We owe it to our students at Oberlin to have a faculty with completed Ph.Ds and with active research programs leading to sustained high quality publications,” he said.

Charfauros was a key organizer in the East of California Conference held at Oberlin this fall. Bringing together some various preeminent ethnic studies scholars, the conference was looked upon by many in the field as a testimony to Oberlin’s commitment to progressive education.

The CFC decision, then, came as a surprise to Espiritu, a keynote speaker at the conference.

“At the end of the plenary session Professor Charfauros received a standing ovation from the clearly energized and appreciative audience. Thus, I was stunned to learn, just two weeks later, that in apparent disregard for Professor Charfauros’ considerable contributions to Oberlin and APA Studies, the CFC had voted not to renew her contract,” Espirtu said.

While it is acknowledged that Charfauros has played a large role in various campus initiatives, including Comparative American Studies and a teacher certification program at Oberlin, President Dye did not believe Charfauros’ absence would set back these programs. “I think she has certainly brought a great deal to teaching in the College and we will miss her, but both of these programs I think will certainly be successful — they’re on the docket,” she said.

Koppes said that it is not common to hire faculty with incomplete Ph.Ds. “Most new faculty members have their Ph.D. finished, and almost all finish within their first year that they are at Oberlin,” he said. However, the practice of giving extensions was not unprecedented according to Koppes.

Emphasizing the service and teaching Charfaurous has brought to Oberlin and her field, the petition stated, “Professor Charfauros has been instrumental in foregrounding Pacific Islander American Studies, both at Oberlin and in the larger Association of Asian American Studies.”

While not denying that Charfauros’ dissertation was submitted after the Sept. 1 deadline, the petition highlights the broader picture of her work at Oberlin: “Professor Charfauros’ fine record of teaching and service — such as program building, curriculum development, additional teaching duties in the forms of formal/informal advising of students interested in the APA curriculum, and, most recently, bringing the East of California annual Conference to Oberlin — means that she has, in fact, been shouldering a workload much heavier than that of most junior faculty.” This petition is currently circulating on campus.

Predicting that the search to replace Charfauros will begin soon, Koppes was not worried that her dismissal would discourage some applicants. “A search will be under way soon for a tenure track position in Asian American sociology and I’m confident it will be successful,” he said.

If Charfauros chooses to appeal the decision, she may appeal directly to CFC or request mediation.